Second World: Deadman's Hand
by Deadlandmarshal
Summary: Harry is entering into a new phase of his life, now all bets are off! Who will be left holding the Deadman's Hand? Edited by the mighty Pazed!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, and Welcome to** **Second World: Deadman's Hand** **!**

 **If you have not read** **Second World** **please go to my Writer's Page and begin there, if you have read it, you are in the right place!**

 _ **IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!**_

 **Before I start, I want to say that this story contains a** _ **mixture**_ **of the movies and books from James Bond. They have many differences, of witch one will make an appearance in this chapter. This character is based on the BOOK not the movie, as the pair share nothing in common other than their name. So please do not be surprised by the LARGE differences.**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 1**

They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, and that is the truth. However it is also a city where very few ever take the time to look around, let alone up. If a resident of the city did it was a rarity, usually reserved for someone that had an unfortunate incident with one of the city pigeons.

For those that did take the time on their own to look up, there were untold splendors to behold. It had everything from world class architecture and views, to gleaming lights reflected inside glass canyons. It was a city filled with sights few cities could ever hope to compete with, especially at night.

But the fact that few below ever looked up was noted by a small group of individuals, a group whose livelihood depended on it, a group who saw the opportunity to raise their occupation to more… lofty… heights.

A dark figure detached itself from the deep shadows as the police helicopter continued its way toward the waterfront, nimbly avoiding obstacles in its path as it again joined with the shadows within the ledge that formed the perimeter of the building. As the figure settled into a kneeling position, it withdrew a palm sized object from a covered pocket and brought it up to its eye.

Carefully, the person scanned each of the windows across the way till its attention settled upon a single large piece of glass. With a flip of the thumb the figure cycled through different lenses; once satisfied it triggered the laser rangefinder confirming the distance.

It then withdrew several items from a small parcel and began to assemble a rifle like object. Moments later a projectile hurtled through the nighttime air and came to rest upon the opposite roof trailing a heavy line.

Once the shadow was sure the line was solidly affixed, it looked around quickly, backed up for a running start, sprinted forward, and hurled itself into open air. Immediately the shadow began to plunge toward the ground below. Its momentum changed with a sudden jerk as the line between it and the center of the line above transferred downward momentum to lateral, swinging the shadow's body across the road and to the appointed window.

As the shadow approached the wall, it reached a hand out and placed a spring loaded camming device into the space between the wall and the glass, depressing the trigger as it rammed home. With an almost inaudible 'click' the shadow's pendulum swing came to an end, locked just within arm's length of its target.

After a quick check of the glass for unexpected problems, the shadow went to work and was soon slithering its way inside and away from the sounds of the street far below.

Twenty minutes later the shadow made its way back out of the building by the same route, securing the window as it went, collapsing the camming device and swinging back toward the center of the line above.

Next the figure made quick work of the ascent to the line above with a hand over hand climb, then with a quick move brought their body to a sitting position.

The view was astounding, below the shadow an aurora of light pushed its way into the darkness then gave way to the blackness that was the harbor beyond where reflections from passing ships twinkled. The figure only pondered this sight for the barest of moments before moving again, this time to bring itself to a standing position on top of the suspended rope, then making its way easily back to the other building.

Lights on the van flared to life revealing an older woman, with long black hair, pale skin, and striking violet eyes. She was dressed in a dark pantsuit with a soft cream colored blouse. "Any trouble my dear?" she asked, in an almost bored tone.

After slamming the sliding door shut, the shadow reached up and pulled off its mask. The woman beneath was young, and beautiful; her skin sported a healthy tan and her dark eyes were bright and alert. "None, Miss." She then presented the woman with a box she withdrew from one of her jumpsuit's many pockets.

"Excellent." The elder woman took the box and opened it, gently. "I do enjoy a true Napoleon Brandy, and my friend Wilson has such fine taste," she said smiling at the bottle lying on the velvet inside. "Did you leave my card?"

"Yes Miss. Just as you said, inside his private office safe," the younger woman replied.

"Very good, Alex. You have done well in such a short amount of time…" The woman paused, her eyes locking on the younger woman's. "You could stay on here, you know? My organization could use someone with your… assets," she said with a seductive hiss, as she rubbed her palm across the young woman's thigh.

If the movement bothered Alex she didn't show it. "I'm sorry Miss, but I have other obligations," she replied.

The woman withdrew her hand, and spoke with a chuckle. "Once again I have lost out to a Bond…" She eyed the young woman in the reflected light from the street outside, "however this time it is not to the elder I think." She paused for a moment watching the young woman's reaction intently, then withdrew a letter from her small purse. "This arrived for you this afternoon, it seems our time together has come to an end for now. You may keep the equipment… consider it a gift, and please tell young Harry and his father they are welcome to visit any time." She then leaned forward capturing the girl's lips with her own. "As are you my dear."

As the woman sat back, she couldn't help but smile seeing that at least had got a reaction, as Alex's face turned bright red. Alex fumbled for the door handle, pulled it open and stumbled into the night air, while trying to force her voice to work. "I will be sure to tell him Miss Galore."

The older woman smiled at her widely. "Oh, you are no longer my student, so from now on you may call me by my first name, Pussy."

* * *

Harry's grin widened as he twisted the wheel violently to the right, feeling the underside of the boat skitter across the surface of the water for a moment before it suddenly began to find purchase, lurching hard toward the new direction its driver wished. If Harry had not been braced for it he may well have been tossed out of the powerful speed boat, but as it was he only slid a small distance in the seat till he was up against the side panel.

"Good!" said a voice next to him. "Did you feel the difference in the way the hull reacts compared to the V bottom?" it yelled.

Harry nodded, and yelled back, "It slid before the turn!"

"Exactly!" James yelled, his grin as wide as his son's. "It's not as much as an air boat, but not as likely to dig in and flip over as the V."

Harry nodded again. "And the tri-hull design lets you get up on top of the water faster, along with being more stable in calmer waters."

James shrugged. "For the most part," James yelled back over the scream of the motor. "It depends on the depth of the V and what they were designed for. A V tends to be more stable in rougher water if it has sufficient draw, especially with an inboard motor helping with the balance, which most have."

Harry thought about that for a moment, "Okay!"

"Take us back in. You can play a bit, but I'm sure they are waiting on us for lunch," James said, sitting back and enjoying the sun.

Twenty minutes later Harry was bringing the boat up to the dock, as a large bellied man stepped out of the house they had rented. He wore a well worn cowboy hat, a gun in a black holster and a large silver star on his chest.

Harry groaned when he saw him. "Dad, the sheriff is here… again," he said as James began to stir from his place in the back.

"I wonder what he wants now," James said, shaking his head in exasperation.

As he tied the boat to the dock, he addressed the man. "Sheriff Pepper, what can we do for you today?"

The Sherriff chuckled. "Well I like to keep tabs on my favorite secret agent, when he comes to town. Especially when he is causing a ruckus all up and down my bayou!"

James stepped up onto the deck and took the man's hand. "And if you can use it as an excuse to get out of the office…" he said.

The large man chuckled again. "Then so much the better. In all seriousness, though, I have gotten a few calls about someone tearing around in the bayou. I've assured them that it is nothing to worry about, but there are a lot more people living out here now, it's not as easy to wipe away things like it was the first time we met."

James nodded. "We're just about done. I just wanted to teach Harry a thing or two about handling a boat in tight areas, and this struck me as one of the better places to learn."

Sherriff Pepper watched as the young man worked inside the boat preparing it to be lifted out of the water on the cradle in the small boathouse. "So he's the future of your secret service? How old is he? Sixteen- seventeen?" the man asked.

"He just turned fourteen," James said.

The sheriff whistled softly. "You Limeys sure start them young! But I would have pegged him as being a little older."

James shrugged. "Harry's a special case… not all of our people are trained like him," James told the man, being quite honest. He knew the man well, and knew that he understood what should not be spoken of out of turn. He had even helped them cover up what had happened when James had run afoul of Mr. Big's men in this same bayou.

"A special case… Hmmm. He any good?" the Sherriff asked.

"Better than I expected…" James said, his voice giving some hint that he wasn't entirely happy with the assessment. "He's driven… More so than I would like sometimes."

The sheriff quirked his eyebrow up, as he pulled off his sunglasses and began to clean them as he continued to observe the boy. "He wants revenge for something, then?" he asked.

James shook his head. "Not as much as you would think… Not that I'm saying that isn't part of it. He is just so eager to please, he wants the approval of those he has come to see as his new family."

"So, you and that Leiter fella," the man said.

James sighed. "For someone I once thought of as oblivious you sure see a lot."

The larger man chuckled. "Maybe it's my age. I spend a lot more of my time observing than I did at one time. That and I play a lot more checkers. The star is more of an honorary thing now, I won the last election but I can't keep up with my deputies anymore. I think it may be time for me to hang it up," he said replacing his glasses and dusting off his sheriff's star. "The kids coming up are going to be something else. They're smarter, my own boy is one of them. He's an officer over in New Orleans, he's thinking about moving home and running for my office. I think he's tired of living in the city."

"Is he any good?" James asked, more to make conversation than anything else.

The man nodded. "Made detective two years after he joined the force, has a really good arrest record. Got married, nice girl, took some getting used to, she's colored… sorry, African American. Family's still trying to break me of that. Old habits." The man sighed. "They've got two kids, Amy's eight, and Jenney is six… both of them are beautiful. Took me a while to warm up to them but now I couldn't stand it if they didn't come visit every few weeks."

"Hmmm…" James said noncommittally.

The Sheriff shook himself out of his thoughts. "So… you've about finished teaching him to handle a boat?"

James nodded. "Yeah, he just needs some experience now. A couple of days more, then we'll head home."

The man nodded. "Alright, I'll keep the locals off your back for a couple more days."

"Thanks Sheriff," said James shaking the man's hand again.

"You take care, and teach that kid well," the sheriff replied as he began walking back up the dock.

* * *

Bill Weasley fought to keep his breathing even as he waited for his signal to move across the hallway. It had only been about three weeks since the last member of their team, Byron Sounders, had joined them. Thankfully it had been an easier integration than the one before him… there had only been two fistfights so far this time.

Mathers had been a surprise to say the least! It had been evident from the first moment he set foot at Skyfall that he was going to be trouble… and boy had they been right.

Mathers walked through the door with a massive chip on his shoulder, angry at everyone. It had taken almost two months before things had come to a head and instead of a fist fight a knife and a wand had become involved.

After that something new had been introduced to them all, boxing. Taking what ever grievance may have been involved to the ring, and it had worked too. Especially after one particularly brutal fight in the ring, when the history Mathers had with magical people came to light.

From that point on things had gotten better, at least until his partner had shown up.

Sounders had proved himself to be a match for the man at stealth, especially in the city, but he had also proved to be a match for the man in pure stubbornness. Both of them butting heads like a pair of bull centaurs after the same mate. It seemed like anything was fair game, food, schedules, weapons, even friends.

It had become so disruptive at one point that Granger, their trainer, had taken the matter into his own hands... or fists.

It had been quite a sight, as Granger systematically destroyed both men in the middle of the ring… at the same time. The man was an artist as he did so too, not only telling them the flaws in their form but in their character as well. How it was destroying what could be one of the finest teams it would have been his honor to train. How their own pig headed bigotry or inferiority issues were going to see him lose two people he had a hand in personally picking for the team thinking they could outgrow acting like little boys on a playground.

In the end both of the new recruits were beaten and bruised but showed some signs of putting the issues with each other behind them, at least for the moment, and being able to work together.

In the last week they had run these kill-house scenarios twice a day, and they seemed to be becoming a smooth addition to the team, but only time would tell.

But that was neither here nor there, as Granger would say. It was time for him to move.

* * *

Neville Longbottom stood back up from his bow as he received the next belt in his quest for a black belt, smiling widely at his grandmother, who was sitting at the edge of the room clapping for him. He then returned to his place with the other students as the rest of those advancing were called.

As he was saying goodbye to the other students his grandmother walked over to him to say with a smile, "I am quite proud of you, Neville. You have been working very hard to have progressed this far."

A man in his forties joined them. "You are quite right Mrs. Longbottom. It is even more impressive that he is not a member of the class the majority of the year! He and his friends must be quite dedicated."

"Thank you, Sensei," said Neville.

"I've told you before Neville, outside of class you can call me Mr. Tanner, or Bill if you prefer." Neville nodded, but didn't say anything. "I was quite pleased with his progress over the school year, the fact that he was ready for a progression test was a pleasant surprise. Even more so that he was ready for a second before he leaves to go back!"

Neville blushed slightly. "W-we exercise together every morning except Sunday, practice three nights a week, and have spars on Saturdays…"

The man chuckled. "Like I said, dedicated! I wish my other students were as well!"

The elder woman covered her mouth as she chuckled. "I believe much of his dedication comes from the fact the vast majority of those that he is practicing with are young women."

"GRAN!" Neville exclaimed.

"Oh-ho!" laughed Bill, "I can see how that could be quite the motivator!"

Turning a deeper red Neville turned away, walking toward the bathroom. "I-I'm going to go change," he said almost running away from the laughing pair.


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 2**

Hermione looked up from her book as the woman opened the door to the gangway and braced it back against the wall then walked to the desk nearby and made the arrival announcement for the plane from Los Angeles. She knew that it would still be a couple of minutes till the passengers made their way to the concourse, so stood and stretched as she looked around for her mother.

It only took a minute to locate her looking through one of the magazines at the news stand, one that she would never normally buy but still looked through given the chance. Hermione shook her head; as much as her mother tried to say that she never followed the lives of celebrities she could often be found flipping through one of those magazines, or 'stopping for a moment' to watch something on the telly.

"Mum," Hermione said after walking over and gaining the woman's attention. "The plane has landed and they just opened the doors."

"Alright," the older woman said, as she quickly put the magazine back on the rack. "You watch for your friend, I'll find out where the luggage will be. Once we have it, I'll call your father to bring the car around."

Hermione nodded and headed back to the spot she had found earlier, so she could see everyone as they exited the plane. She was becoming concerned that she had missed spotting her quarry as the plane's crowd thinned but she was rewarded soon enough with the sight of her friend, though Luna had changed her look somewhat from the last time she had seen her. It was impossible to not recognize her from the sheer amount of boundless energy she seemed to radiate.

Hermione's shoulders shook with laughter as she spotted Luna skipping her way down the gangplank just in front of an exhausted, and exasperated looking stewardess. Gone were the long silver white locks she remembered; now her hair was cut in a short pageboy and died to a bright purple. She wore jeans, ripped strategically, a black t-shirt for some form of band, and a black leather jacket, one that may have been made to fit someone as large in the shoulders as her own father. Around her neck was a leather collar with a large metal ring on the front and she wore heavy looking combat boots on her feet. She was even wearing make-up, dark eyeliner that made her large eyes look even larger.

All in all it was not what she had expected, let alone what she had told her parents to expect. Boy were _they_ in for a surprise.

* * *

Cissy drummed her fingers against her hip and glared at Sirius her irritation at the situation evident.

Sirius continued to ignore her as he wrote; after he signed his name at the bottom of the page he finally looked up. "Yes?" he asked.

"Well?" she asked back, expectantly.

He sighed, how did he get himself into this type of thing? "You look fine…" Cissy flailed her arms into the air, turned and stormed out of his office. "Just like the last four outfits you asked about!" he called after her.

He leaned forward, and dropped his head on the desk with a loud ' _thump_ ', and made a whimpering sound.

A quiet chuckle came from the door and Sirius rolled his head just enough to look at the person standing in the doorway. "Susan… don't you have something better to do? Summer homework? Cookies to bake? Someone, other than me, to laugh at?" he asked.

"Oh no!" She smiled widely. "I've finished all of my homework, weeks ago. As for cookies Auntie likes brownies better… Besides I wouldn't miss this for the world, _Uncle_ Sirius… by the way have you told Harry the news yet?"

Sirius lifted his head slightly and dropped it on the desk again with a 'thunk', and growled. "No…" He still could not believe he had even done it… or that she had accepted. He had known he wanted to ask Amelia to marry him, but he hadn't made any plans to actually do it.

Then suddenly one night, as they were walking along a beach in France on a spur of the moment weekend getaway, while they watched the sunset, he'd done it. He didn't even think about it. He looked at the amazing sunset, and the way it lit her face... and suddenly the words came tumbling out of his mouth… "Amelia? Will you marry me?"

The look on her face ran through a gamut of emotions, confusion, suspicion, anger, then finally happiness. Later she told him for a moment she thought it may have been some form of prank, but when she saw the pure fear of rejection in his eyes she had known he was serious.

At the moment only the four of them knew, Amelia, Susan, Cissy and himself ; and he had sworn them all to secrecy till at least he had told Harry… That had been almost six weeks ago, and while Amelia understood that Harry was out of contact because of the secrecy of his training, Susan knew nothing of the sort. All she knew was that he was spending time with his grandfather learning about his business, and the girl was becoming impatient.

"No…" he said. "I don't want to just ring him up and tell him… I want to do this face to face. He'll be home soon…"

"I'm beginning to think you don't want to marry my Aunt! Since you don't want tell anyone!" she said angrily.

Sirius snapped up, sitting strait in his chair "I…" he started.

Only to be drowned out by an angry voice. "Susan!" Amelia yelled. "I expect better of you young lady!" she said, as she made her way down the stairs. "I suspect this has more to do with not being able to tell everyone at Madam Marta's!"

Susan's face reddened, in embarrassment. "It's not like…" she tried.

Amelia stopped her cold. "It's exactly like that! Sirius wants to be able to tell Harry personally, before he reads about it in the Prophet or hears about it from someone else! I understand that! _You_ need to respect _our_ decision on the matter!"

Susan lowered her head a bit. "Yes ma'am."

Amelia stepped toward the young woman and wrapped her arms around her. "I know it's hard not to tell anyone, and it won't be for much longer. Harry will be home before you know it, then you will have plenty of time to talk about weddings with your friends."

Susan nodded, and slowly broke away from the hug, "I'm sorry Sirius…"

By this time Sirius had stood and walked toward the both of them. "That's alright…" he said hugging her. "I understand."

The touching moment was broken by a loud irritated voice asking, "Well?" from the top of the stairs.

Sirius and both of the ladies looked up, only for Sirius to sigh and answer, "You look _fine_!" Again.

Cissy's hands once more flipped into the air, as she turned and stormed toward her bedroom.

Sirius shook his head. "She's worse now than she was when she got ready for her first date when we were kids!"

* * *

M was sitting at her desk shuffling papers around on her desk when a buzzer sounded on her telephone. Sighing she smacked a stack of paper down and punched the offending button. "Yes?"

The refined voice of her secretary answered. "Mr. Gold is here along with Mr. White, and Mr. Red."

M quickly gathered and tidied the stray stacks of paper, then placed them in a drawer of the desk. "Please send them in," she said as she stood and headed toward the door.

Glancing at the mirror on the wall, she checked her appearance, a wide closed lip smile on her lips. As the heavy oak door opened she stepped forward offering her hand to the Goblin King as he entered. "Ragnarok. A pleasure to see you again."

The goblin grasped her forearm in a warriors' handshake. "You as well M."

She turned to Algernon Croaker. "Croaker," she said nodding, then turning slightly, "Moody"

They nodded in reply. "Ma'am,"

"Please be seated." She gestured towards the chairs facing her desk.

As they made themselves comfortable, she sat back behind her desk. "Your assessment?"

Ragnarok, otherwise known as Mr. Gold, began. "The structure and warding of the main complex, as well as the high security vault are complete. We are also helping with the transport of all critical equipment and items."

Croaker nodded then continued. "Q is working with our new cataloging system and finishing the testing on the electronic security. That's why he couldn't join us, some form of glitch in the catalog system, he wanted to check on it for himself. He expects the final tests to be complete within the week, then we will let Granger's squad test it again. It will be a good test for them, even if the magical part of their training isn't complete; they may see some holes that we don't."

M sat back in her chair her fingers steepled in thought. "Arrange it for after September first, I want to keep the squad free from the end of the week till after Hogwarts is in session. With everything going on between now and then many of them will need to make appearances within the wizarding world and I imagine they all could use some down time. They have been training hard."

Moody shrugged. "Granger was planning to give them some time off soon, so this will fit into his plans. As it is they have completed the first half of their training. We still need to integrate magic into it and Granger wants to start that in the early fall."

M shrugged. "That will be fine. Is there anything I need to help arrange?"

"Not as of yet," the elder man replied. "But I expect he will wish to use the kill-houses at the army base again before the end of the year."

M sat forward and made a note on a pad. "I'll talk to the Defense Minister and ask about availability… I'm also going to arrange for them to get some more jump experience."

Ragnarok set a file on the desk. "We have been tracking the finances of those you requested. A total of 275,654 gallons was transferred from the Ministry accounts dealing with the remaining arrangements for the Quidditch World Cup. Of that just over 157,000 gallons has been transferred through several accounts and into one of six accounts."

M picked up the folder, and flipped it open. "Fudge… Umbridge… Yaxley… Rowle… Gibbon… Carrow… and the rest?"

He placed another file on the table. "It was added to the fund for the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

M's eyebrow quirked up. "The Tri-Wizard tournament, what is that? I expected it to be used to wine and dine VIP's at the Quidditch World Cup."

The goblin nodded his understanding. "As did we. The inclusion of the Tournament caught our analyst by surprise. This seems to be something that while in the works for some time, was known to very few even within the Wizengamot."

M grimaced. "When and where will this tournament be held?"

It was Croaker that answered. "The Tri-Wizard tournament is traditionally held between three schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons of France, and Durmstrang of Bulgaria. It was discontinued over a century ago because of the number of contestants that were killed over the years… Why someone thought it was a good idea to resurrect it? I just don't know."

M tossed the folder onto the table. "Deaths? Just what kind of events are in this… tournament?"

Croaker sighed, and sat forward. "It will be a total of three events spaced over the year, as well as a ball on Yule. What those events will involve? It could be nearly anything, but it is a safe bet that all of them will involve some form of magical creature."

Ragnarok nodded. "Several payments have already been made to magical creature preserves, specifically one in Romania. One that houses Dragons."

* * *

Hermione sat at the kitchen table, and began eating her breakfast, waiting for the questions to start.

Her parents had been great, so far. They had greeted Luna warmly the night before, and then accepted the young girl into their home without so much as a word about her unorthodox appearance. They hadn't said a word when she showed off the clothes she had found while staying in LA, way after a time when they both would have been in bed normally. They had stayed quiet the entire time because Luna was her friend.

Now however, they had questions. Questions they wanted to know about their guest.

"So that's Luna?" her mother asked, as she set the toast on the table.

Hermione chuckled, "Sort of… she normally doesn't dress like that… but yeah, that's her."

"So she doesn't dress so… Odd?" her father asked, laying aside his paper.

"Oh, no." Her parents looked relieved for a moment. "She dresses quite oddly at times…" Their eyes widened. "Just not like that."

Emma sat heavily in the chair across from her daughter as Hermione continued. "When I asked about her clothes, upstairs last night, she said they were a style called Grunge. Evidently it is a type of fashion in the states, one that is gaining a lot of popularity. She also said the clothes are very comfortable."

Her father, then asked, "So, what was she doing in Los Angeles?"

Hermione took a bite of her eggs. "I told you her father runs the newspaper,' The Quibbler'?" Both parents nodded. "And that she stayed at Harry's father's house last summer while they were gone? Well, before they left she began working on their computer, and evidently she was very good at it, she even spent some time at some sort of seminar over her vacation. So this year Harry's dad arranged for her to spend some time with some people he met because of his work, in Silicon Valley."

A voice came from the stairway. "Palo Alto, actually," Luna said as she made her way down the back staircase. "Mmmm bacon. I never could sleep with the smell of bacon in the air. Good morning," the girl greeted as she made herself at home, by first retrieving her own plate and then going to the refrigerator and searching through pulling out different items. "Omelet anyone? I got quite good at them while I was away," she continued.

Emma began to stand. "No Mrs. Granger, you relax, I can manage," Luna said waving her hand toward the woman.

Luna was soon chopping vegetables and humming quietly. "I learned a lot while I was away," she said to no one in particular as she finished up and began stirring her eggs. "It was quite fun as well."

Dan looked at Hermione. "Isn't in unusual for a wizard to use computers? Didn't your Professor say they won't work because of your magic?"

Luna chuckled. "I was taught the same thing all my life, but last year I made a discovery, when I wore a digital watch to Hogwarts. It still works fine." She held up her wrist, it was wrapped in a bright yellow plastic band.

"If Hogwarts had electricity, I would even take the laptop I won, but the battery wouldn't even last part of the trip on the train. It's too bad really, it would be oh so useful…"

"You have a laptop?" Emma asked, stunned.

"M-hmm…" she replied, as she worked on her omelet. "It's quite nice too, Pentium two, sixteen megs of ram, three point one drive as well as cd. Unfortunately I won't have any use for it for at least several months."

"D-does it have a modem?" Emma asked after a moment.

"Of course!" Luna flipped her omelet closed, and slid it on to her plate and headed toward the table. "You wouldn't have a use for it would you Mrs. Granger? I can leave it with you if you would like."

Emma smiled. "That's not necessary. You may need…"

Luna placed a hand on hers. "Please, use it. It won't be doing anyone any good just sitting on a shelf somewhere."

Emma paused thinking about it then looked at Dan, "It would let us leave the office sooner, we could work on our billing and notes from here," she said.

Dan sighed, then turned to Luna. "I would insist on renting it, or buying, if you prefer."

Luna smiled; of course she'd never let that happen but they didn't need to know that.


	3. Chapter 3

_**NOTE:**_ _ **I am posting this story, as well as my others, a few days early as I will soon be on vacation for two weeks. Many of you that have followed my stories will know that that means that I will not be writing during that time and the next chapters will be delayed. Sorry but my family insists, and this is one vacation I intend to get the absolute best out of because they are two of my dream destinations.**_

 _ **And I do apologies for the short chapter, but I did not want to start the Cup here and divide it up more than necessary.**_

 _ **Alright enough of that, on with the show!**_

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 3**

With a flip of his wand the disillusioned man unlocked the door of the home, then cast a silencing spell on both himself and the door, pushed the door open and stepped inside.

It was a nice home, full of good quality furniture, as well as a few older family pieces, but the intruder knew with little doubt, that the owner of this particular house could have done much better for himself.

'Jacob Roman Martin was a most promising young man at one time,' the intruder mused, 'one that I had high hopes for. But, alas, that was not to be.' The man thought. 'He had met a young woman… Gertrude? Grace?' The man believed the woman's name had started with a G… or possibly a J…'

The man shook the thought away as he made his way toward the staircase. 'At any rate… he met a young woman, and she had turned his head away from the path that had been laid before him.' The man sighed mentally, as he made his way up the stairs. 'While they had not been a powerful family, the Martins, they were respected within certain circles, and knew how to navigate the pitfalls within the potion community that allowed them to obtain even the most restricted or difficult to obtain ingredients.'

The figure started with the closest door, checking each room. 'It wouldn't do to be discovered by the couple's visiting grand children, if they are here,' he thought, as he continued on still musing over the past. 'That woman had in some way drawn him away from his family's calling and onto a path that would, in time, lead to St. Mungo's and to his obtaining the rank of Master Healer. While respectable, he could have accomplished much more with the help of his family's name.' It was sad, actually, when he thought about it.

When the man reached the end of the hallway he entered the master bedroom and came to a stop at the end of the couple's bed. He watched the sleeping pair for a moment, 'Yes, things would have been much better for the man if he had just done as he was meant to,' he thought as he dropped the concealment spell, placed a silencing ward on the room, and a pair of sticking charms on the sleeping couple.

Almost immediately the couple woke. "Who? What?" the man sputtered as he tried in vain to free himself from the tangle of sheets and blankets he was now stuck to.

"Jacob!" his wife said panicking and trying to do the same.

They froze when they saw the figure standing in the shadows, wand in hand. "W-who are you?" Master Healer Martin finally managed to ask.

The man fingered the wand, and stepped forward into the moonlight. "Surely you remember me? The man you placed indefinitely in the Janus Thickey Ward?"

The man gasped, the beard was missing, as were the half moon glasses, and he didn't look as frail as he had but it was him! His eyes were the same sky blue. "Dumbledore…"

Albus's lips turned up in a dark smile. "Oh, so you do remember me _Master Healer_ …" he growled.

Moments later the screams began.

* * *

"You need to be quicker! It was eight against one, and you still could not best her!" Severus scolded, as he looked over the beaten and bruised men.

One of the men groaned as he shifted and took a sip from the potions bottle, then spoke. "But it was LeStrange! She is..."

"She is one person!" he hissed back, "No matter her skill!" He stomped toward the man. "She may be one of the best magical duelists alive, but she is still _one_ woman! If you had followed my instructions she could have been defeated! Instead of working together you attacked like a bunch of dunderheaded apes! Once you saw who your opponent was you fell apart! Her reputation destroyed you more than her spell work!"

A mad cackle came from down the hill, as spell fire lit up the area. Snape turned toward it. "And it seems your remaining brethren are not fairing much better." He turned back toward them. "I was told to gather fifteen of our old crowd for these missions, luckily I chose to gather twenty! Three simple missions! One to gather information about a traitor, one to obtain an artifact, and one to kill an old man! In completing the first two we lost _FIVE_ people! _**FIVE!**_ Two to the traitor, and another three to those damn…" He drew in a deep breath, centering himself. He glared at the gathered men. "We still have one mission to complete before the Quidditch World Cup arrives, one that may well cost us more of your lives if you do not _WORK TOGETHER_!" he snarled.

At that point, a dark haired woman walked into the clearing levitating a pile of bodies before her. "Here is the rest of your group Snape!" she said flicking her wand and causing the pile of bodies to sail into the air and land in a tangled heap next to the first group. "You may call me again when these pathetic fools have found some way to improve!" She smiled a dark feral smile at the first group. "But if they don't show improvement soon, I may just try my own hand at… Motivation."

With that she spun a tight circle on her heel, and disappeared with a quiet 'crack'.

Snape kicked the bodies of the men she brought up the hill apart, and cast several spells to wake them. "I suggest you drink these potions, and rest. We will start again in thirty minutes," he said as he passed out several vials.

* * *

It had been a strange few days since Harry's return home. He had found a stack of messages almost an inch thick on the desk in his room. They were arranged from top to bottom by importance, on the top were his appointment times with his 'doctor', otherwise known as M, as well as his' dentist', Croaker… or it could have been Moody depending on who was free when he had a chance to meet with them. Those of course took priority.

Next was a message from Alex, telling him she was going to visit her family, and would be staying in the safe house he had arranged if he needed her, in code of course. The one after that was from Sirius, asking him to drop by his new place as soon as possible after he got back, and while what he wanted to talk about wasn't an emergency, he did say it was important… and boy had he been right!

Married… Sirius was getting married! They hadn't set the date yet, as they were still in negotiations about the size of the wedding and where they wanted it but Sirius had told Harry that he wanted him to be best man, as well as having James be one of his groomsmen. Susan had been almost bursting at the seams to run off and tell the girls, it had been funny to watch as Sirius and Amelia kept drawing out dinner longer and longer, just to keep her away from the floo.

However, the strangest thing was the fact that Cissy hadn't been available to join them. Evidently she had recently started dating someone, and while the relationship was quite new, she did seem to be much happier of late, at least according to the newly engaged couple.

What happened after Susan had made her escape to the other room had him almost running for the door. The loudest scream of "HE'S HOME!" that he had ever heard.

He had then spent the remainder of the evening on his knees with his head in the fireplace talking to each of his friends in turn, with the exception of Neville, Hermione, Luna and Alex.

All of them had been on the list of things to do in the next few days, but that had taken care of most of his hellos, as well as an agreed upon date for them to meet at Diagon Alley for their school supplies. As well as making sure no one's plans for the Quidditch World cup had changed.

The next day he had called the Grangers, and flooed Neville with the information and got their agreement to meet in the alley as well.

With all of that arranged a lot earlier than he expected he had a few days to himself, something of a rarity really, but one he was not going to squander. By noon that day he was on a plane to Spain to spend some time with his grandfather, then home the day before he was to meet his friends.

It may not have been much of a vacation, but those few days were spent either by the pool learning about the Draco holdings, riding, or even watching as the ranch hands held a competition breaking a new group of horses.

All in all it had been a great chance for him to relax, and enjoy a few days of the summer.

The day after his return it was off to the Alley!

He chuckled to himself when he remembered what Luna had been dressed in, combat boots, a mid thigh length plaid skirt, a concert t-shirt for Nirvana, a large leather jacket and bright purple hair! She looked every bit like a young woman that had grown up in southern California. The funny part was Alex was ready to steal every single piece from the girl, including the hair.

After a long day of shopping, lunch and ice cream they went their separate ways, at least until tonight, when they would meet for dinner at the cabins, along with their parents.

"Harry? Do you have every thing?" Sirius asked from the doorway of Harry's room.

"Yeah," he said looking around again. "It just seems weird… I mean, I've always had a room here… but I've never spent that much time here."

Sirius shrugged. "All you need to do is-"

Harry cut him off. "That's not what I meant!" he said a little aggravated. "I just…" He sighed. "I have friends… family all over the world, and even more at Hogwarts, but I just never spent much time here."

Sirius nodded, walked over to the bed and set down. "You could say something to your dad, if you want to stay here, or at our place over the summer."

Harry shook his head. "No, I've still got things I need to do… Look, I know that you have issues with what I need to do, and you need to know my dad even agrees with some of them, but circumstances have placed me in a unique position. One that will help the crown as much as the wizarding world."

Sirius sighed. "I know, it's just…" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Harry, I know you feel like you need to do this, really I do… and I support you in the choice… I just wish it was when you were a little older…"

"You sound like Terry…" he said sitting next to the older man on the bed.

"She's a smart woman… scary too." Sirius shuddered. "Not as scary as Amelia, but a close second."

Harry smiled slightly, as they sat in silence for a time. "Is Amelia going to meet us at the cabin?" he asked.

Sirius inhaled, and patted his legs, then stood up. "Nope, not tonight, she's still busy with last minute details for the Cup. She'll be joining us before the game day after tomorrow."

Harry nodded, as he jumped up and grabbed his back pack. "So where are we headed?"

Sirius headed toward the room's door. "We'll take a cab to my place, where we will meet the Grangers and Luna, then walk to where our port key is scheduled to leave."

Harry followed behind him, pausing to activate the security system as the walked out of the house."


	4. Chapter 4

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 _ **Sorry about the short chapter but something had to give as work was much more demanding from the norm given the fact I had been away on vacation (I don't understand how so many things can go wrong when you are out of the office despite trying to plan for them. Go figure.)**_

 _ **Anyway, I reached a good stopping point, one that fit with the way I wanted to tell the next piece of the story, so I stopped there. Sorry to disappoint.**_

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 4**

Dowager Longbottom had, at one time, rather disliked visiting Gringotts, but after a visit with Harry during the mess with Malfoy, she had an epiphany when she saw the way the young Lord dealt with the Goblins that ran the bank. Since that time she had come to not only understand them better but enjoy her interactions with them. There was nothing she enjoyed more than haggling for a better deal.

Unfortunately, today's visit was not going to offer such a pleasant diversion. Today she was here to gather the group of security specialists that Gringotts had helped her arrange to guard against Bellatrix LeStrange, the woman that had led to her son and his wife spending many years in the care of St. Mungo's before their death in the great fire that destroyed the hospital.

She strode into the meeting room with a faint scowl on her face, giving her a no nonsense appearance. She had, of recent date, retired her once famous hat, much to her distaste, but perhaps Neville had had a point when he told her that walking around with a stuffed vulture upon her head was more disgusting than intimidating.

At any rate it had been a small concession to her grandson and how he wished their house to be seen by their community. His father would have been proud.

She had only been seated at the large table a moment when the door opposite the one she had entered opened, and three individuals came through, one Goblin and two she presumed were human from their heights.

The goblin nodded slightly, and took the chair directly opposite her. "Welcome to Gringotts, Dowager Longbottom. My name is IronAxe; I will be handling today's dealings"

She nodded in return. "I am pleased to meet you." She paused for a moment eyeing the two men behind the goblin. "I was under the impression that our negotiations were complete, and I had secured the services of five hitwizards for the duration of the event," she said.

The goblin gave her a toothy smile. "Indeed you did, but unfortunately a turn of events has unfolded that has made a number of those individuals unavailable due to their preexisting contracts with the Ministry." He shuffled the pages in front of him for a moment, as if looking for the correct page. "Due to this fact, we have secured the services of these individuals." He gestured to the pair behind him, hidden within their deep, black, cloaks.

"Just the two of them?" she asked anger beginning to fill her voice.

The individual on the right spoke. "No, Ma'am. Four of our team are already on site securing the area. The remainder are preparing to transport the remainder of our equipment. They should be done by the time we complete our transaction."

Her left brow cocked upward, as she studied the man in question. "How many are on your… team?" she asked.

"Ten, Ma'am," he said in a clipped tone.

She turned back toward the goblin. "And their qualifications?"

The goblin seemed to scan the paperwork. "They are fully qualified. I believe you will be satisfied with their performance."

Her gaze drifted back to the pair standing at the back of the room, and sighed. "I am not pleased with this change… but I do understand that things of such a nature do happen. Will this affect our contract in any way?" she asked.

"Not at all," the goblin said. "Truthfully, this group would have been our first choice, given your needs, but they were not available at the time for contract negotiation. It was quite a shock when we were informed of their availability. As for the fee, it was acceptable to them given the short term of the assignment."

The Dowager nodded. "Then let us be about our remaining business," she said as she leaned forward and began checking over the final paperwork.

* * *

Harry growled as he stepped out of the small cabin that served as the office for the campground. "That man's going to have permanent brain damage before this is over!" he said, glancing up at Sirius. "You need to find Amelia and tell her about the 'arrangements' that have been made by the Ministry. She needs to get someone down here and have the man 'suddenly need to go visit' someplace. If he has his memory continually modified much longer he won't be able to remember his own name! Or if he has a family!" Harry told the man. "How stupid can this lot be!"

Sirius nodded. "I'll call her on my mirror…" he said absently, digging in a pocket of his jacket. "That poor man."

Moments later Sirius was holding a small pocket mirror in his hand, only instead of reflecting his face it showed him the face of Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE (Department for Magical Law Enforcement). "Amy, we've run into a problem."

The woman on the other end of the mirror call nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Harry and I just registered in at the campground. Someone stationed an obliviator using an invisibility charm in the office, instead of sending the owner and his family away and renting out the entire place."

"Damn!" she said under her breath. "I-I can have him removed… but I don't have anyone that could take the owner's place…" She thought for a moment. "Could Cissy do it? Handle the money and guide everyone to their campsites?"

Sirius sighed. "Most likely… I'll ask her, but she'll need some form of protection. Just in case some of her ex's friends decided to cause an issue."

Amelia nodded. "I'll send Shacklebolt, he's good and she knows him. Can you stay there as well?"

Sirius looked at his godson who nodded. "I'll be fine. It's not far to the campsite and I want to get settled before the others start arriving."

Sirius turned back to the mirror. "I'll be here, and I'll help her as much as I can. I saw how he did everything. It shouldn't be a problem…" He changed subjects slightly. "You're positive you don't want to join us here tonight?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head, but had a small sad smile on her face. "No… I wish I could, but the Minister asked me to come to the reception for the Bulgarian Minister tonight, and after that I want to go over the final security arrangements for the game… I doubt I will even get to watch much of the game… I want you to enjoy yourself though… Just don't get in any trouble, I don't want to be forced to bail my husband-to-be out of my own jail," she said glaring at him, but smiling at the same time.

He put on his most wounded face. "Who me?" he asked dramatically. "What would I do to cause trouble?"

The woman's image on the mirror rolled her eyes. "Whatever you think would be fun… do the opposite… I love you, you stupid mutt. See you soon."

"I love you too," he said in a more serious voice. "I'll miss you. Be safe."

She nodded, and said, "You too." Then her image faded, to be replaced with his own.

He sighed after a moment, lowered the mirror, and looked at Harry. "Alright, you head over to the cabin, I'll stay here and get hold of Cissy. We'll be over right after we close the office this evening. I'll send Luna and Hermione over when Xeno arrives, I think he is just covering the events leading up to the game for the Quibbler."

Harry shrugged. "That's what Luna said, he is having her write the article for the actual game. She writes the ones for the games at Hogwarts he publishes, so that makes sense. She'd have the most experience." Harry settled his backpack more comfortably, and took Sirius's from him. "I'll get us settled, and have dinner ready… we'll do the hotdogs, campfire style, It will be easy and fun… I even brought the things to make S'mores," he said.

Sirius had understood some of that, at least the hotdog part (he had done it one year in the fireplace with Prongs, Moony, and Lily after seeing it in a movie), but he had no idea what a S'more was. "Ok, I'll leave that to you then. Are you expecting all of your friends tonight?"

Harry nodded again stepping down off the porch. "Yes, I think everyone but Neville is already here, and he'll be here later this afternoon. He said they would be in time for dinner."

Sirius watched as Harry made his way down the lane toward the first grouping of cabins, his head swiveling left and right taking in the sights, and Sirius had to admit, they were something to see. No one ever said Wizards were a subtle lot. Especially when they were competing with each other.

* * *

Harry chuckled as he continued unloading the groceries Sirius had packed in a bottomless backpack, along with a couple of changes of clothing. He had decided that wizards were some of the weirdest people on the planet.

So far he had seen clothing choices that had ranged from the odd, the idea that a dinner dress was normal to wear in the mid afternoon in a campground, to the hilarious, a moo-moo and fishing waders… to the stunning, bright gold robes with purple and green swirling colors that would have made some of the things Albus Dumbledore had once worn seem tame.

That said nothing about the three story tents, complete with windows. or covered in real living shamrocks, or children riding toy brooms behind fenced in yards surrounding said tents. It was ridiculous, all of it!

The most amazing part was the fact that it was all supposed to be hidden because of the Secrecy Statute, but not a single one of these people seemed to be able to keep from flaunting their magic, or at the very least do it without screaming, 'Look I can use magic'.

A click, followed by soft music then static for a moment as the station changed, came from the living room. Harry smiled, as the sound finally settled on a rhythmic beat accompanied by a guitar. He placed the last of the groceries away and washed his hands on his way out of the kitchen.

Luna was dancing in the middle of the room in time with the music on the radio, her back to him. He walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump and let out a loud squeak.

She spun as she jumped away, only to yell, "Harry!" when she saw who it was, and hug him tightly.

Seconds later Hermione appeared in the doorway of the room she was going to share with the younger girl, smiling as she walked forward and hugged him as well. "We thought you were out exploring," she said as she let go.

He shook his head. "No, not yet. I wanted to get settled first." He checked his watch, then looked out the window. "Besides I told Sirius I'd have things ready for dinner by the time they get done, so I only have an hour or so to get everything done. Do you two want to help?" he asked, turning toward the kitchen again.

The girls looked at each other then followed him. "Harry, I didn't know you knew how to cook," Hermione said, as he started rummaging around in the cabinets looking for different things.

Harry chuckled. "What you are about to see is the extent of most of my cooking talent. Coleslaw and deviled eggs are about it… It's going to be mostly picnic fare. Sorry to disappoint you." Both girls laughed as they began working.

* * *

The next day found their group, several strong, making their way toward a group of tents with Harry and Neville in the lead. Harry stepped up to the canvas doorway and called inside, "Weasleys? It's Harry Potter. Is any one about?"

A voice from inside answered, "Harry?" Followed by the pounding of feet, then, after a moment the canvas door flipped open revealing a pair of identical faces.

"Harry, our young-" the first said,

only to be continued by the other, "-friend. We are so glad you-"

"-decided to drop by," the first said again.

"Our dear sister-" said the second,

"-has been quite worried that-"

"-you would be unable to find-"

"-our humble, short term, home," they ping-ponged, as their smiles grew.

"Fred, George!" yelled a female voice from inside.

"If you'll excuse us-" said the twin on the right.

"-we don't wish to feel the-"

"-wrath of our littlest Weasley," they finished, as they pushed their way past, and into the flow of people.

Moments later the face of the Weasley patriarch appeared in the door way. A large smile broke out across the older man's face. "Lord P-"

Harry broke in, "It's just Harry here, Mr. Weasley. We just wanted to invite Ginny to join us, we're going to look around the vendor area."

Mr. Weasley's smile faltered. "I… I'm not so sure that's a good idea… it was hard enough to get her mother to agree to let her accompany us to the game…"

Harry nodded. "I understand your concerns." He gestured to the men walking just behind the group. "Neville's gran insisted, just in case."

Mr. Weasley looked at them in surprise. "Hitwizards?" he asked quietly, before he remembered. "LeStrange… I'm sorry, Lord Longbottom, the fact she escaped had slipped my mind."

Neville nodded. "It's Neville… I assure you, however, between all of us," he said gesturing to the group of friends, "and my minders, she will be safe."

Mr. Weasley chuckled. "I expect you are quite right," he said, as a red headed girl's head appeared under his arm.

"Hi, Harry, Neville. May I Daddy? Please? All the others are gone, and you let Ron go off with his friends," she asked, giving her father her best puppy dog eyes.

Mr. Weasley sighed, then his smile returned. "Okay, but I want you to be careful." He pulled a few coins from a thread bare pocket. "This should get you something to eat or something… Now I want you back by three, I want us all to have dinner before we head up to the stadium." He looked over the head of his little girl at the two young men who both nodded.

It was Neville who spoke. "That won't be a problem, we will be wanting to get back by then as well to get ready for the game."

It wasn't long before the group headed off up the walkway toward the growing sound of the crowd.


	5. Chapter 5

**I apologize for the delay but things have been a little strange after my vacation and the start of the holiday season. I think that everything is back on track, but you know what they say happens when you make such an assumption….**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 5**

The Ministry for Magic was normally a busy place, even at times such as now in the middle of the night. Perhaps not as busy as midday, but there were always more than a few people present in the massive building that housed the wizarding government; Aurors carrying out their duties, security of one form or another, even cleaning or maintenance crews.

Tonight, however, was one of the few exceptions. With the World Cup coming up it had gotten quieter as the event neared till this evening when the only soul in the entrance hall was one man, sitting quietly at the well lit reception desk in the center.

His name was Raymond O'Malley, a rookie guard scarcely a month out of training. He was glad to have this job, he had been looking for something for a long time till his best friend from school had helped him get on here. He had been lucky.

He sighed, as he looked up from the newspaper he was reading to pass the time. It wasn't like he didn't understand. He was the new guy, so he was the one stuck with the job no one else wanted, guard duty during the night the Quidditch World Cup began.

As it was he and his partner in misery, an older bloke by the name of Higgins, would switch off twelve hour shifts sleeping in the Auror ready room (where there was a Wizarding wireless so they could at least listen to the game). It could have been worse, he figured, at least he wasn't still living in his muggle aunt's basement…

The ding of the elevator drew his attention to the area behind him, away from the entrance, to see Higgins exiting the lift carrying a tray of food. He smiled as the man approached. "So? How is the game going so far?" he asked.

The older man chuckled. "It hasn't even started yet," he said, setting the tray down and sliding it toward him. "You know how it is... all the pomp and circumstance… everybody feels like they need to say something, and then there were the mascots… the Irish had leprechauns tossing that fake gold of theirs everywhere."

The younger man laughed at the idea, as he took a bite of the stew Higgins had brought him. It wasn't bad, the old man was a pretty good cook… or maybe he brought it from home and just heated it up downstairs.

His attention came back to the story when Higgins continued, "Then the Bulgarian's group came out… they brought a bunch of Veela…" said the man, allowing his voice to trail off.

O'Malley's eyes widened. "Wow… that'd… I would have liked to have seen that…" said the younger man.

Higgins let out a deep rich laugh. "I just bet you would boy! It was a wonder they didn't have men flinging themselves out of the stands towards them! That damn allure of theirs and all!" He continued to smile as he calmed. "Though I do imagine it was quite a sight, even after they transformed..."

" _They transformed?"_ O'Malley asked excitedly.

Higgins looked at the younger man with a critical eye. "You were friends with Hagrid, weren't you boy?" The young man looked a bit sheepish and nodded. "and got top marks with Grubblyplank?" Again the man nodded. "Wanted to work with creatures?"

The young man nodded again, as he nibbled on the crusty bread, "I-I wanted to work with hippogriffs…" he said quietly.

"And being muggle born…" The young man nodded. "Sorry about that…" Higgins said, knowing that the boy's blood status had closed a lot of doors before he could even get started and shaking his head. "I'll come up and relieve you about midnight… remember you'll need to be back at the desk by noon so don't stay up listening to the game all night, I'm only going to listen for another hour or so then get some rest myself."

O'Malley nodded. "Alright see you at midnight."

A short time later, after finishing his dinner, he returned to reading. He never even saw the spell coming, as he slumped over the desk bonelessly and slowly settled onto the floor in a heap.

* * *

Amelia slammed the folder down on the makeshift desk, and rubbed at her eyes. "What a fiasco!" she said to no one in particular. "Eighteen dead, two of them Aurors, over three hundred injured, and fifty of them seriously! Scrimgeour, what the hell happened! Half of our Aurors didn't even respond!"

The Head Auror fidgeted slightly under his bosses gaze. "Fudge happened!" the man finally snapped out. "He sent his personal toad to the Auror temporary station we arranged this afternoon. He was complaining that our presence was disrupting things… keeping the people from enjoying themselves, and accusing us of using too much of our budget at the beginning of the event! He had half of our forces sent home to save a few galleons."

'Umbridge!' she thought, angrily. Amelia fought the urge to go find the woman and strangle her.

"Then," he continued, "When the attack began he started screaming about protecting him, and made every Auror we came across join his detail!"

This time she didn't fight the urge. "And you didn't see fit to inform me?" she asked becoming more and more enraged.

"You were supposed to be with him!" he replied. "I thought the order came with your approval!"

"Merlin!" she said waving her hands in the air. "Use your brain man! You knew how I felt about our security arrangements! I wanted another fifty Aurors there and double that in reserves! You should have known damn well I wouldn't have signed off on that plan!"

She took a deep breath as she made her way around the desk to stand eye to eye with the man. "Don't you, for one second, think that I don't know what you were doing!" she accused. "You wanted to earn points with the Minister! You wanted to look good by being the good little Ministry stooge!"

She took a quick breath and yelled, "YOUR STUPIDITY GOT PEOPLE KILLED!" She pushed her finger into his chest punctuating the point. "The Minister and his Toad have no business telling the DMLE how to provide event security! NONE!"

She pulled her hand back. "You're done here Mr. Scrimgeour! Both as an Auror as well as anything to do with the DMLE! I don't ever want to see your face anywhere near the hallways of my department!"

"You-you can't do that!" the man yelled back. "I did what-"

"What the Minister told you!" she said cutting him off. "Who runs this department? Me or the Minister?"

"Y-you do, but-" he began.

"And what were my final orders to you, as well as the others yesterday?" she asked.

He paused, thinking back to the briefing. "To stick to the plan…" he said. "but he ordered..."

"Fudge is not an AUROR!" she roared. "He may be the Minister, but he is not the head of this department! I AM! Once your report is filed, I want you out of here!" She looked the furious man in the eye. "And if I even suspect that you have falsified or omitted anything, including who ordered the changes, I will personally drag your ass to Azkaban myself and feed you to the Dementors! Do you understand?"

The man nodded. "Good, now get out of my sight!"

The man growled as he exited, and a younger person in Auror robes entered. "Madam Bones…" the nervous woman began.

Amelia spun towards her. "What do you need Auror?" she asked.

"Y-you're needed at the ministry building… There was a body discovered…" she said quietly. "The guard on entrance duty was found dead."

Amelia's eyes widened. "Find Auror Kingsley I want him here in five minutes… Then find me Amos, Roberts and Fielding, and have them report to me in the Ministry Atrium; I'll be there as soon as I can," she ordered.

The young Auror nodded and ran out the door.

* * *

Harry shut the door of the conference room, eyed each of those assembled in the room and nodded to a few as he made his way toward the only empty seat left in the room.

M spoke first. "Harry, before we start I want to hear your version of what happened the night of the World Cup."

Harry nodded as he sat in the heavy high backed chair as every eye in the room turned toward him. "We had just recently returned to the cabin, after the World Cup victory by the Irish. Not long after a late dinner we heard the first of the explosions… In the beginning we thought it was just part of the continuing celebration, but we were alerted by one of the sentries that there was a growing disturbance towards the east."

He shrugged at that point. "After that the team that had been tasked with security gathered us into a defensive circle and led us west, to the ward's edge, and used a portkey to move us to our fallback point."

M nodded. "And your assessment of the team providing security?"

Harry smiled. "Competent, efficient… They had us secured and transported within ten minutes of the initial report."

M made a note on the page. "Well I guess there is that much… This was supposed to be a milk run for them, a shakedown for their field operations and communications… Moody your assessment?" she asked.

"They did the job assigned, protected the kids and got them out," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Eight members arranged themselves as a perimeter around their charges, while the remaining pair gave long range support and supplied information on enemy movements… they did good." The grizzled old Auror smiled as he finished.

"And what do we know about the people that attacked?" M asked.

Amelia sighed. "Not much, unfortunately. There were twelve of them, in full Death Eater garb, white masks and black cloaks with hoods. If someone saw enough to make positive identification they aren't talking… This attack shouldn't have happened," she said angrily, "or at least it shouldn't have happened like this… Damn that Fudge!"

M nodded in agreement. "Something that will be brought up during the next session of the Wizengamot, I'm sure."

Amelia snorted. "Augusta, Lady Longbottom the regent of House Longbottom, is ready to rip the man apart as it is. When I told her why we didn't mount more than a token response to the attack, I thought she would strangle the man before we ever got to a hearing!"

Moody chuckled. "Aye, the lass was fit to be tied…"

M turned toward the wall behind her and clicked a button on the table. "Due to the new Department of Mysteries team being involved, we have video of the attack. Please watch closely then I'd like each of your assessments in turn."

" _Spellfire three o'clock," said a male voice._

" _Tracking," said a second, as the view of the grounds at the World Cup site blurred by. "Got it," continued the voice, as the view tightened on the area near a large bonfire._

 _Bursts of red and green could be seen just beyond the glare of the fire, then out of the darkness stepped a figure wrapped in a dark cloak with a bone white facemask covering its face. A blast of blue flew from the wand and the bonfire exploded, scattering flaming debris into the crowd and onto the tents beyond._

" _One, Nine," said the first voice, "Contact with hostiles confirmed, due east of our position. Appear to be dressed as Death Eaters, unknown number at this time."_

 _There was a quiet crackle then a weaker voice answered. "Roger Nine, Securing packages. Stay on station and advise on contact movements and numbers."_

" _Roger one… do I have permission to engage?" the second voice asked._

 _There was a short pause. "Negative Nine," the softer voice said. "Unless I order it or you are directly attacked you are not to engage."_

" _But sir they-" the second voice began._

" _Negative one, you are not to engage. Understood?" the voice asked._

" _Understood one…" he growled back._

" _Damn it!" said the voice. "People are dying down there!" he said angrily. "Why can't we help them!"_

 _The other voice answered as the view moved around the area picking out other people dressed the same way as the first as spells flashed in all directions. "They aren't our mission. This is a protection detail! Get your head straight! The boss needs information! It's our job to get it for him!" He growled. "I count twelve."_

 _The other voice made a grunting sound. "Twelve… One. Nine. Twelve hostiles. They are headed in a south western direction, toward the shopping area!"_

 _The soft voice spoke again after a short pause. "Roger Nine, contact moving southwest. We will be moving out in two minutes, keep me posted on their movements."_

" _Roger one…" The voice trailed off._

 _They watched as the group of Death Eaters destroyed everything in their path, be it people or objects, the spotters giving occasional updates, until a voice crackled to life on the radio again. "Nine, One. We have reached extraction point, withdraw and evade."_

 _The screen shut off._

"Comments?" M asked.

Those assembled looked around wondering who would be first to speak. "They've been trained," said Granger. "It's a little haphazard but it's there… Six of them to provide operational security, six to carry out the mission…" he said, shaking his head. "They could have done much more damage, but I believe they were expecting Auror opposition, hence half of their number on security."

He waved his arm toward the frozen image. "They didn't have any direct plan other than chaos and death…" He shook his head, "Yes it could have been much worse."

M's eyebrow rose. "Where would they have received such training?" she asked.

Granger shrugged. "It's basic stuff… experience most likely. It's probable one of them is a veteran of the last war…" He paused, thinking. "Amelia? Is this something that could be attributed to Auror training?"

She shrugged. "It could be adapted… so it's possible. We are just beginning to get to a point where I can start looking at the Aurors for remaining Death Eaters."

Granger nodded. "That's as likely as anything. They may be somewhat trained, but they don't have that much operational experience at this point, you could see that from their frustration towards the end, as their discipline began to break down as the chaos increased and they began to push away from each other further and further, distracted. What bothers me is the absence of the LeStrange woman… I would have thought she would have been at their forefront."

Amelia shook her head. "I wondered that same thing, for a while I thought she may have been the one that infiltrated the Ministry building, but as far as we can tell only the one guard was killed and nothing was stolen… so that doesn't seem to be something she would do."

Granger nodded. "No… I agree that doesn't sound like her…. Nothing was stolen you say?'

She shook her head. "Not that we could find, but who knows what they may have been after there… we may never know what they wanted."


	6. Chapter 6

**Merry Christmas! And a Happy New year to all!**

 **Well, this is it for me for the year, you know that family thing sure limits the time a person has to write. Anyway hope you all have a great New Year and see you here the second Saturday of the New Year!**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 6**

David Granger leaned forward and looked at the satellite pictures again. "I don't think they would be foolish enough to try another attack at King's Cross… If they do they will walk right into the new security, both magical and non…" he said picking up those photos and putting them to the side.

"And I don't think they'll do it once the train arrives in Hogsmeade," he continued, as he gathered up those pictures and placing them on the discard pile. "Too much chance of an increased auror presence there."

"No if it were me I'd go after the train while it was still en route," he said. "Find someplace the train needs to slow… like this turn…" He pointed at one of the pictures. "There is a heavy downward grade just before it. They will need to brake all the way down, at most they will be going 16 to 20kph at that point… That would be the best place… unless you just wanted to cause mass casualties, say if you did something to destroy the viaduct as they crossed…" He tapped a long bridge like structure. "The train would be a complete loss."

M nodded. "I agree. Mr. Moody? You have the most knowledge of their tactics, would they do a tactical strike? Or destroy the train?"

Moody thought about it for a moment. "It depends…" he said pondering the question. "If ol' Lucy Malfoy was still around I would doubt they would just destroy the train, as his son would have been aboard… Now? I'm not sure who would be hold'n the reins durin' something like this."

Moody paced for a moment. "If it was the LeStrange woman, I would expect an attack on the train… she likes to play with her toys before she kills them, and look them in the eyes while she does… But the attack on the World Cup makes me think someone else is in charge… question is who?"

M sat back in her chair. "Who would be able to pull her to heel?"

He shrugged as he came back to the table. "That's a short list, Riddle… Other than him… I've never met anyone crazy enough to try."

She nodded. "Could Snape do it? We believe he escaped about the same time."

Moody shook his head. "No. The man may be a weasel and a Death Eater, but he's not stupid enough to think he could control her… he'd end up drooling for the rest of his life in St. Mungo's before the day was out."

James's eyes grew wide as something in his mind clicked together. "Dumbledore…" he said under his breath.

M turned towards him. "Did you think of something Bond?"

James sat forward. "Dumbledore! This is his play!"

Moody looked skeptical. "Why would he have anything to do with LeStrange?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but think about this," James said digging his way through one of the files. "We never found any positive evidence that he was still in St. Mungo's the night it burned…" He pulled out the report containing all the information gathered about the night the wizard hospital burned. "Not even two weeks later, LeStrange escaped and Snape 'committed suicide'. If he was the one that effected their escape…"

Granger nodded as he continued James's thought. "He got his most trusted lieutenant, Snape, and a hell of an enforcer, LeStrange in one fell swoop!"

James nodded, thinking about the other things that had been brought to light during the debriefings they held earlier. "Moody, you saw the tactics they were using at the Cup, what did you think of them?"

Moody sat for a moment, thinking. "They were watching for an attack, expecting it…" he said as he ran through the footage again in his mind. "They were careful… and…" His mechanical eye suddenly settled onto the person across from him, James. "They stopped at the bonfires… they could have pressed on into the vendors, caused more damage… but that would have put them at higher risk of running into an auror presence, as more would have been tasked there as to the residential area… it _was_ a distraction!"

James nodded. "What would have been at the Ministry that Dumbledore could have wanted?" he asked. "Something that he needed, and he knew would be there?"

" _His wand_!" Moody growled, hobbling toward the door.

Granger was the one to ask, just before M, "Would Dumbledore go to such an elaborate measure just to retrieve a wand?"

James nodded. "He would," James replied. "David, you need to understand, while we look at something like a knife as a tool, to a wizard their wand is much more than that. There is a... connection… a compatibility… that is established between the wand and the owner. That compatibility is key when focusing their type magic…"

James paused for a moment, thinking about how to explain it to the man. "It's his preferred tool… one he has wielded for years… decades… His compatibility with that wand must be astronomical after all these years!"

Granger shook his head. "So now he is even more of a threat?"

M nodded slowly. "Especially now, if you consider he struck at us before. Now he may become even more bold."

"He struck before now?" David asked.

James sighed. "Snape assaulted me in the parking lot, then there was the attack against Sirius Black… I would also imagine he was one of the attackers at King's Cross… If he had his own wand at the time… It would have most likely have tipped the scales completely in his favor… I guess we can thank his impatience and the fact that he didn't have any idea of what Harry was capable of for the fact that they all survived."

"Dear God…" David said softly.

M sat forward. "I think we can safely agree, that we will see him move again at some point in the near future. If not the train, then at one of the events being held during the course of the year at Hogwarts," she said pulling out a folder with a black band wrapped around it.

She dropped the package on the table. "The Tri Wizard Tournament is being held there this year."

* * *

Harry had made sure that he and Alex were the first to board the train, to better allow them to select their compartments. Hermione was the only one to raise an eyebrow when they placed Harry's trunk in one and Alex's in the other to use as a table, or extra seating, with each of them staying in the compartment with their trunk.

Fortunately their precautions to protect their friends proved unnecessary as the trip passed in an uneventful manner,. only punctuated by the occasional 'pop' during a game of Exploding Snap, a visit by each group of prefects as they went about their patrols, an in depth discussion of what the girls had learned in their class over the summer, and speculation on what the marriage of Sirius and Amelia would be like the next summer.

The group stayed close together, quietly herded into a group of carriages by Harry and Alex, only to separate once they were entering the Great Hall.

Hermione leaned over from her seat next to Harry when the sorting began. "Harry? Are you going to tell me what that was all about on the train? Why did you keep your and Alex's trunks with us?"

Harry sighed as he watched a young girl being sorted to Hufflepuff. "I will," he whispered, "but not here and not now. We'll be going to the Chamber tonight after lights out; if you want to join us then you'll find out. Eleven o'clock, we won't be long, you should be back before one."

She nodded, then began to clap as a young boy was sorted to their house.

When the sorting was complete Headmistress McGonagall began her announcements, starting with the list of banned objects that had not made it into the student handbook, most of which came in the form of pranks from Zonko's.

"…a complete list is posted on the bulletin board in your house, and is available from your head of house or the head girl and boy," she concluded.

"The last announcement for this evening, before we tuck in for dinner, is that we will be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament here at Hogwarts over the course of the year. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the other competing schools, will be arriving the week before Halloween and will be our guests for the rest of the year."

Murmurs ran through the crowd and she waited a moment for the noise to die down. "The main event for Halloween will involve the selection of a champion, one from each school, to compete in three tasks over the course of the school year."

Once again the room erupted in excited muttering, till she began to speak again. "Because of the inherent difficulty and dangers that these champions will face during these tasks, becoming a champion will only be allowed for those that have reached their majority, the age of seventeen as of the night of Halloween."

Several loud moans could be heard among the students. "A thousand galleons will be awarded to the victor." She held up her hand trying to quiet the continuing groans. "I feel I must caution those that are eligible to enter the tournament. This will be a difficult test of your abilities, meant to test your boundaries in skill, nerves and bravery. Please take that and the danger into account before submitting your name."

Harry looked around the Hall; he could pick out more than a few people that were already looking forward to the day they could put their name forth. McGonagall continued, "For those not entering the Tri-Wizard itself, there will be a number of events offered for you to be able to compete if you wish. These will include but are not limited to, Dueling (with both wand and sword), Charms, Transfiguration, Warding… And Quidditch!" she said with a smile!

The room erupted into cheers when she made the last part of the announcement. When the students quieted she spoke again. "Complete rules, and schedules will be made available tomorrow, from your heads of house… Quidditch captains you will be meeting with me on Saturday to begin your selection process. Please get together and put together a list of those that you wish to have considered for each position, and keep in mind that the same restrictions that I have put in place about academic eligibility will be strictly enforced!"

She made one final check of her notes before she continued. "That being said, enjoy your meal and welcome to Hogwarts!"

Neville eyed Harry as they began dipping up their dinner. "You knew about this tournament, didn't you?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Most of it, Sirius told me about it. He was trying to get some changes made to the competition. The last time the Tri-Wizard tournament was held one contestant was killed and another lost the use of his legs…" Several gasps came from those around them. "He doesn't want something like that to happen again. Unfortunately the final decision about the actual tournament the champions will be participating in is under the purview of Magical Sports and Games… So they will be the ones deciding what the three events will entail… there is no telling what they will dream up."

Neville whistled softly. "No way I'd even think about entering something like that, even if I was old enough, Gran would skin me alive… I wonder why she didn't tell me about it," he pondered.

Harry shrugged. "She probably thought it would be fun for you to find out with everybody else, I only found out because I saw some of the paperwork Sirius had. They wanted it to be a surprise for the students and that's why I didn't say something at the Cup or on the train."

Neville nodded in understanding. "So?" he asked the group at the table. "Anyone planning on entering anything?"

* * *

Harry walked next to Hermione as they entered the Chamber, to find Alex lying on one of the couches asleep, her outer robes draped over one end. "Alex! Wake up! We've got company!"

Alex opened one eye towards the pair then closed it again. "Don't care! Tired…Keeping alert all day about drove me nuts! Especially after being up with you and your father most of the night going over plans, and putting the new arsenal in my trunk in order…"

Harry just shook his head as he walked towards her, drawing his wand. " _Aguamenti_!" he said, causing a jet of cold water to crash into her face, making her sit up sputtering.

"Damn it Harry! Was that necessary?" she cried, wiping her face.

"If you don't watch it I'll arrange for Pussy to come… visit, at _your_ request… For, say a long weekend? She could even stay with you," he said with a devious grin.

Alex startled, then shuddered, then looked at him with wide eyes. "You wouldn't!"

"Pussy?" Hermione asked with a hiss.

It was Alex that answered her. "That's the of a _person_ I met over the summer… I didn't have the guts to ask about it. She's one of Harry's father's friends. I spent most of my time in New York training und..." She stopped herself, when she spotted Harry getting ready to say something. "WITH her," she said instead.

Alex stood and shook her hands, and peeled off her shirt leaving her only in her sports bra. "She's…" She paused, thinking. "Let's just say I'm her type… and leave it at that… I learned a lot from her, not like that!" she said glaring at Harry. "She specializes in stealth, and security systems…"

"She's a _thief_?" Hermione asked, stunned about Alex's state of undress as much as the revelation.

Harry shrugged, and pointed at himself. "Spy. It's a lot of the same skill set. I went through training with her too. She's good people, maybe a little on the morally ambiguous side but good people… Dad met her when he was after a man planning to rob Fort Knox, the United States Strategic Gold reserve… Would you believe he had arranged for the entire town, along with the army base there, to be poisoned, and a train to be prepared and staffed by hundreds of gangsters dressed as Red Cross emergency responders to be the ones to 'investigate' what was going on?"

Hermione looked at him, her expression growing more skeptical as he talked, and deciding that if nether one of them was concerned with Alex's lack of modesty, she wasn't going to be ether. Alex shook her head. "I still can't believe it… but Felix confirmed it… I don't know if that was brilliant or just stupid!"

Harry shrugged again. "I don't know, Goldfinger thought he had it figured out though."

Hermione watched each of them in turn, wondering if they were having her on.

"Anyway," Harry said turning toward her. "The reason we wanted to keep the trunks near us was that we believe there will be an attack, of some form, soon… so it was a precaution."

Her eyes widened when she figured out he wasn't kidding. "D-Did you tell the Aurors?" she stammered.

He nodded. "The right people knew, and other precautions were taken. I'm just glad it wasn't today," he said sitting down. "Unfortunately that only increases the chances for the other suspected days…"

Hermione sat slowly, across from Harry. "So you were expecting an attack?"

"It was a concern," he said. "So far so good, but we'll be keeping an eye out, the day the other schools arrive, Hogsmeade days, Tournament days… It will be a busy year."

Hermione nodded slowly. "How can I help?"

Harry smiled, as he leaned forward. "I have a thought or two."


	7. Chapter 7

**It sad day when such a great actor passes. To Alan Rickman we say farewell and Gods speed.**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 7**

Harry sat down to dinner, looking out across the Great Hall. So far, while interesting, the time spent at Hogwarts had been relatively quiet, given the tournament.

Granted, the actual arrival of both of the other schools had been entertaining, what with Beauxbatons arriving in a coach drawn by flying horses the size of elephants, and Durmstrang via ghostly sailing ship that rose up from _under_ Black Lake. In truth it had been a long afternoon of standing around and waiting in the cool October air under the shadow of the castle, making it mostly boring and cold since they couldn't even move to stand in the sun for some reason.

The schools had been here almost two weeks now, allowing time for them to both get settled and locate their new classrooms inside the castle, as well as contemplate and size up the competition for the tournament.

Harry harrumphed to himself. 'The damn tournament!' he thought. That had become more than a little bit of a sore spot with him as of late. While both Alex and Hermione understood, the others were constantly asking what events he was planning to enter, or were trying to get him to join this team or the other.

As it was he just did not feel like he had the time to even contemplate any of the competitions. Between his magical and non-magical classes, their physical training and martial arts, and trying to be ready for the attack they were expecting, he didn't have the space in his schedule.

Granted some of the competitions looked like they would be interesting, especially some of the dueling and academics, but he had responsibilities both inside and outside the castle that had to take precedence over a bit of fun. So he had rebuffed each attempt, saying this was his O.W.L.S. year and he wanted to concentrate on that instead of competing. For the most part that had been accepted, by his friends especially as they knew how seriously he took his education, but there were still holdouts within Gryffindor that wanted him to enter 'for the glory'!.

But tonight that would all be over. At the end of the Halloween feast the final entries would be done and the three Champions would be chosen, allowing him to relax somewhat, at least while school was in session and there was no Hogsmeade weekend, or task.

"So Harry, who do you think the Champions will be?" asked Neville as he sat across from him.

Harry shrugged, "I'd bet on Krum, from Durmstrang… I don't quite understand why he's even here, I would have thought he graduated already with being on the Bulgarian Quidditch team and playing in the World Cup a few weeks ago."

Neville nodded. "Me too… must have worked out some form of deal with the school to be able to play… What about Beauxbatons?"

Harry looked contemplative for a moment, as he drummed a finger on his chin. "I have no idea… I would say it will most likely be one of the two blonds we see with their headmistress all the time. They seem to be the favorites."

Neville chuckled. "So you have been checking them out… the girls were wondering if you were, they've never caught you staring…"

Harry's head swiveled back to him and away from the pair in question. "So they caught you then?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

Neville sighed. "Su Li did… we were coming back from herbology, and we almost walked right into her… I didn't even realize it till she smacked me on the arm as they were walking away."

Harry shook his head. "A gentleman should never be caught ogling a lady… unless they are wanting you to, but I doubt that is what she would want."

"But it is what she has come to expect," said Luna from next to Harry. "Good evening Harry, Neville. It must be hard on her," the blond said quietly. "Being a Veela, having an ability like that… Men almost drooling just because she walks by… I think she was a little surprised when you didn't react when she asked about having the remaining soup."

She placed a book on the table next to Harry. "Could you give this to Hermione please? I thought her mother would like it now that I'm done with it."

Harry glanced down at it. "Excel for Dummies… isn't that an accounting program?" he asked.

She nodded. "It is, but it is also much more. You can do many things with it, and this is by far the most user friendly book that I have found. The others are worse than listening to Professor Binns when you have been awake for several days."

Harry winced. "Ok, have a good evening Luna, and remember we'll be having our study session Saturday afternoon because of the feast tonight."

She nodded. "Of course, it's in my planner already," she said tapping a small black book, and heading off toward the Ravenclaw table.

"Planner?" Neville asked.

Harry smiled. "Something she started over the summer. Evidently several of the people she spent time with had something they called a day planner, that they placed appointments and important reminders in to help them stay organized… Think of it like a lord's journal, only for future events, and you maintain it yourself." The boy nodded his understanding. "Each page has the date and a list of times listed, you just fill in the blanks. Very useful."

Neville's eyes widened, and he glanced over his shoulder towards the girl walking away. "Do you think she could get me one?"

The meal went just about as expected, it was a Hogwarts Feast after all; delicious food and people laughing along with amazing Halloween decorations.

It didn't seem like it took any time before the meal was done and the large crystal goblet (though Harry thought that it looked more like an ugly bowling trophy with a can of burning Sterno in the cup), was wheeled out of the area near the staff table.

Headmistress McGonagall stepped up to the podium next to the flaming goblet. "Over the last two weeks all of those eligible have had an opportunity to add their names to the Goblet of Fire, which in a few moments will give us our Champion's names!"

A round of applause came from the room and she waited for it to die down before continuing. "While they are a big part of this tournament, it would do us well to remember that they are only one _part_ of the reason."

She paused for a moment. "Take this opportunity for what it is. Make new friends, challenge yourself as much as others in the other competitions. Make the most of this opportunity to widen your horizons, as well as your knowledge!"

Turning toward the Goblet after she finished she tapped the edge with her wand and the fire died. A glow came from deep within, appearing originally as a small silver blue ball that seemed to bounce around inside the crystal, growing steadily, and slowly changing color from silver to blue, then to orange and red.

With a flash and a 'pop' sparks exploded from the mouth of the goblet into the air. Ash formed from the sparks, then the ash became paper, fluttering into the air only to land in the open hand of the Headmistress.

"Our Champion from Durmstrang…" she said as she looked over the name. "VICTOR KRUM!"

Applause thundered through the Great Hall, as a stern looking man stood at the end of the Slytherin table, hands raised above his head in fists. A chant of "Krum, Krum, Krum," came from the students of Durmstrang as he made his way toward the goblet and the group of headmasters.

Nodding to each of the headmasters, and clasping hands with his own for a short time, he then greeted the group from Magical Sports and games, and took his place standing just in front of the officials, waving to the gathered crowd.

Harry chuckled, it reminded him of one of the weigh in ceremonies for boxing.

The crowd grew quiet as the cup began to sputter and pop again, and another gout of sparks and flame erupted into the air to form another note sized piece of paper.

McGonagall read the paper quickly. "And our Champion from our friends at Beauxbatons…" she gestured toward the Ravenclaw table. "Fleur Delacour!"

Harry watched as one of the girls they had spoken about before stood, the one that Luna had explained was a young Veela (a race of magical beings of avian descent, similar to a siren in some ways only with an affinity for fire and air rather than earth and water). Her reception was much more subdued, most likely due to her not being a Quidditch star. A smattering of applause rose, mostly from the Ravenclaw table, as she made her way across the floor toward the group at the head table.

She bowed slightly to each headmaster, including her own, and then greeted the others, before finally taking her place standing next to Victor. She looked small, almost dainty next to the large brooding man, but Harry could see that there was a fire… a thirst to prove herself here; even the way she stood told volumes about her determination.

Again the Goblet flared, and sparks fired into the air. McGonagall reached out and captured the piece of parchment from the air. "Now, for our champion from Hogwarts…" She glanced at the paper, a grin forming as she did. "Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff table was the first to erupt into applause, soon followed by the others. A young handsome man stood, his friends surrounding him, offering him congratulatory hand shakes and hugs, as he made his way down the length of the table and toward the other champions.

It didn't take him long to do as the others had, and greet the group surrounding the goblet, then move to join the other champions. He was all smiles, even as he shook the hands of both of the other competitors.

"I give you," McGonagall began as she gestured toward the group of teens, "Your Ch-"

The Goblet began to shake and sputter, becoming more violent by the second. A light began to grow deep inside the crystal, only instead of silvers and blues it cycled in black and deep reds. Till a gout of flame erupted, several feet high, along with a shockwave that knocked all of those surrounding the goblet to the ground.

Screams filled the Great Hall, as people began to panic. Harry glanced at Alex, who like him, was already in motion away from the table, the wall to their backs, hands moving automatically towards their backs and drawing their handguns as their wands were grasped in their off hands. They watched the room closely as things began to settle, each scanning different areas trusting the other to warn of danger from a different direction.

Slowly things began to calm. Nervously the pair returned to their places, keeping their weapons drawn, but hidden.

When they could see McGonagall again, her eyes were wide and another piece of parchment was in her hand. She glanced toward the Gryffindor table. "Harry Potter…" she said, her voice cracking as she spoke.

Gathering herself she spoke again. "Harry Potter… Please come forward."

Harry glanced at Alex confused, then toward Hermione who shrugged.

Harry stood, not moving from his place, and asked, "Headmistress? May I ask why I am needed?"

All the eyes that had turned to him when he spoke, swiveled toward the Headmistress. "Your name has come out of the Goblet… I take it you did not enter your name?"

Harry shook his head. "I did not," he said. "I also do not meet the eligibility requirements for this contest, as I am not seventeen… I will not even sit my O.W.L.S. till the end of this year."

"That may be, Lord Potter," said an odd little man dressed in some form of tweed robes with a large bushy mustache under his nose. "But you are considered an adult, because of your status within the Wizengamot. You could have easily chosen to enter your name…"

"Then you, sir, are an idiot!" Harry replied, "I would stand little chance in whatever the tasks are for this tournament as I have half of their education! No matter my position otherwise! Let alone that I did not enter my name! Besides this is the TRI-wizard tournament! THREE champions! Not four! I have no clue how that even happens!"

The man glanced at the other members from the Ministry, a blond man to his right spoke. "Your name came out of the goblet… so you are bound by a magical contract to compete…" He almost looked anxious for him to participate.

Harry's scowl silenced him. "You'll forgive me if I do not take _your_ word for it. Headmistress, please contact Amelia Bones and Sirius Black and have them informed of this…" He waved his now empty hand in the air... "mess! I expect they will be most interested in what has transpired here this evening!" he said.

She nodded. "I will…" She turned to the rest of the room. "A round of applause for our THREE champions!" she said, gesturing to the group of teens that were, apparently, quite confused by what was going on.

Applause slowly began till it became a solid roar, and the trio at the front of the room waved.

As they applause died, McGonagall spoke again. "Champions, as this concerns you as well as your Headmasters, you will be allowed to join us in my office. Mr. Bond…" she said looking toward Harry, much to the confusion of the visiting schools. "Please join us as well."

Harry nodded, and began walking toward the door. Alex was next to him before he stepped outside, whispering, "I'll get Moody and Croaker here ASAP, and alert your father and M."

Harry nodded, and whispered back, "Ragnarok and Q, as well… I want everyone on deck for this… Get Hermione to help… I want her to go with the others, see what they think about this…"

Alex nodded and broke off to talk to the others, as Harry made his way toward the stairs upward.


	8. Chapter 8

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 8**

M looked up from her stack of paperwork as James entered the room. His eyes looked tired, if not a bit distracted.

"How is Harry?" she asked, even though she already suspected the answer.

"Angry," he said simply, with a small shrug as he moved toward the small bar she kept and poured himself an almost full tumbler of Scotch.

M's eyebrow quirked up. "A little early for that, isn't it 007?" she said, using his number to stress the point as she picked up her own coffee and took a sip.

He drank almost half of the glass in one long pull. "For me it is very late… I haven't been home yet. I spent most of the night with Sirius talking with Harry over that new mirror of theirs, trying to get him to calm down enough to get some rest. Then I spoke with Croaker about the history of this stupid tournament."

M nodded. "I'm sorry about what has happened James, we knew that the tournament was in the works but it was left to a department we have little insight into."

James nodded as he refilled his tumbler and sat across from his boss. She may be a much different individual from her predecessor, and been a bit naïve when she started, but she had proven to be a quick study and had an iron will that had seen the 00s through some very trying missions. She had his respect, something that had been hard won.

He nodded his understanding. "Be that as it may, we still dismissed it as trivial as it was something being handled by Magical Sports and Games, something only slightly important because of the budget shuffling."

She sighed. "Croaker was rightly concerned when he saw it listed as a line item on one of our reports. We were looking into it but were hesitant to act because we believed adequate steps were being taken, not only to safeguard the selection of the champion and stress the risk involved, but to protect the champions from harm during the tasks."

James sipped his drink again. "Do you know what the tasks will be?"

She nodded. "Croaker will give you, Sirius and the others a full briefing in twenty four hours. I want you to go home and get some rest, it can wait until then."

James growled something under his breath.

"007!" she snapped, as a smirk grew across her lips. "As true as that may be, you should never say something like that about a lady."

James chuckled, as he made his way back toward the bar while draining his glass, then placed the glass on the tray denoting it had been used and made his way toward the door.

"James," He turned to face her, the door held slightly open; she had already gone back to the work on her desk and didn't look up at him. "We are going to get him through this. Remember that."

He didn't reply, only the soft click of the door handle let her know he had left the room.

* * *

"Any luck?" Hermione asked as Alex stepped into the bedroom they shared with the other fourth year girls.

She shook her head. "No. He wasn't _down_ stairs," she said emphasizing down, meaning the Chamber, "in the kitchens, or anyplace else for that matter… I even had Neville check their room again… Just in case. No one has seen him since breakfast."

Hermione nodded. "He said he was tired… I hope he found someplace he could get some sleep… Did you check on Ronald?" she asked quietly.

The older girl sat down next to her. "Yes… and I talked with Flitwick. His shoulder was separated, and you hyper extended his elbow. He'll be back down at breakfast in the morning… Flitwick wanted me to tell you that you will be serving detention with him every night for the next two weeks, and he's sent a letter home to your parents."

She paused for a moment to let the news sink in. "Then he said the throw was well executed, and you should be proud your training is going so well."

Hermione smiled weakly, still looking down at her clasped hands. "I still can't believe he grabbed me like that, while yelling at Harry to keep away from 'respectable' Gryffindors…"

Alex sighed. "He got what he deserved, if you ask me…"

Hermione made a noncommittal sound. "I can't believe the number of people that think he entered his name," she said sadly.

"Nott has been leading the charge too," Alex said. "He's pushing the idea all the more now that Harry has been confirmed as champion."

Hermione shook her head. "And he's taking a big chunk of Slytherin with him, not to mention a good chunk of Hufflepuff being angry that there are two Hogwarts Champions!"

"Yeah," Alex replied. "I kind of understand what they are feeling though…" Hermione looked at her confused. "Hermione, you need to understand, Hufflepuff is seen as the house of duffers… the leftovers. Most everybody looks down on a Hufflepuff despite the fact that they have more than a few well respected members that have come out of that house. They felt that this could be their chance to dig their way out from under that stigma."

She nodded. "I-I can kind of understand that… and that will most likely pass after things calm down a little."

"The problem will be getting some of the Slytherins to keep from exploiting things in the meantime." Alex said.

"Daph and Tracy said they will keep an eye on things and let us know if things are brewing," Hermione said.

"What about the Ravens?"

Hermione shrugged. "Luna said that they didn't care for the most part. The main question they seem to want to know is how it was done. She said that goblet was an extremely powerful artifact and it would take someone who was not only powerful, but knowledgeable to even think of attempting something like this."

"That's what our boss said," Alex confirmed. "Making it choose four champions instead of three was impressive… Unfortunately the goblet was severely damaged in the process and every bit of magic it once possessed is gone."

"So they won't be able to use it to help the investigation?" Hermione asked.

Alex shook her head. "No… the goblet is a dead end. Even worse is the damage that was done to the Great Hall itself, they don't know if the enchantment for the ceiling can be repaired."

Hermione looked shocked. "Th-that's terrible! That ceiling was one of the most amazing things about coming here!"

"If it can be restored it will be, I'm sure," Alex said. "Ok. What else did you hear?"

* * *

"THE FIRST TASK IS WHAT?" Harry yelled at the mirror, as he snapped to his feet sending the chair he had been sitting in tumbling across the floor.

"Dragons," said a voice coming from the small device. "A nesting dragon… to be exact."

Harry just looked at the man stunned. "Y-you can't be serious. That's just stupid… What kind of moron would even… Aren't they usually handled by teams?"

Croaker nodded. "Indeed, and making it so a single person must face off against a nesting mother is doubly dangerous. Why this was even discussed is beyond me."

"So let me get this straight…" Harry said pushing his hair back out of frustration. "I'm supposed to get a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon… By myself, with three years less education."

"Essentially, yes," he replied.

"And if I don't retrieve the egg?" he asked.

"Then you wouldn't have the clue for the second task… But that won't be an issue as the Goblins were contracted to create the egg," he said.

"So what do I need to do to satisfy the contract?"

"Attempt to get the egg. That's it," said the voice.

"So I step out and what? Yell harsh language? Anything I could do would either not be noticed or piss it off!" Harry said. "I don't think we even have anything in the chamber that would penetrate the hide on a living dragon!"

Croaker shook his head. "Q and I are working on it… we'll figure something out."

"Three weeks," Harry reminded. "Three weeks is all we've got."

"I know, Harry," he responded.

"And what are the second and third tasks?" Harry asked.

"We've got plenty of time to worry about that. At the moment let's just focus on the first task and the goal of keeping you in one piece during it," Croaker said.

Harry nodded his head. "Okay, we'll do this one thing at a time… but I want to be included on these discussions and decisions… Can you bring Q with you this weekend, I want to include Alex and Hermione as well. They can help with any research here as well, it will help us if we are keeping busy."

Croaker nodded. "Alright… Have them start with dragon types and anatomy, I want you familiar with all of the species and their capabilities as soon as possible."

"Okay," Harry said. "Is there anything else?"

Croaker sighed. "Unfortunately, yes." He rubbed his face for a moment then began again. "The night of the attack at the world cup someone broke into the Ministry, a guard was killed."

He paused for a moment pondering how to tell him, then deciding that the best thing was to do it straight. "Dumbledore's wand was stolen."

Harry stared at him in shock. "They left one that looked like his, it even had a core… but when we did a full weighing and test, there were definite differences."

"So he's out there too…" Harry said slowly.

"Does this change how we are planning to do things for the Hogsmeade weekends?" Harry asked after a long pause.

"Some… we'll go over the new plans this weekend," Croaker said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 9**

Harry sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, his dragon.

He looked at the small animated statue he had drawn from the bag almost an hour before. It was of a Norwegian Ridgeback, one of the most fierce dragons known. It was an off copper color with wings much like that of a bat's, as they stretch between 'finger' like protrusions and under the front arms. It had powerful rear legs, thick neck ending in a massive fire belching head and a long spiked tail.

It was truly terrifying.

Despite his best efforts his mind drifted to the faces of those he had observed as they had entered the champions' tent and drawn their dragons.

Victor Krum had sat alone in one corner of the tent deep in thought, his elbows resting on his knees. His focus never wavered from someplace on the ground as Harry entered, leading him to believe the man was not as confident in his ability to succeed in this task as he had tried to appear over the last few days.

Harry had seen other evidence of this as well ever since his improved surveillance had caught Krum and his headmaster, Karkaroff, entering the area that housed the dragons some eight days before.

Fleur Delacour had likewise mostly ignored him, only barely noticing him as he entered. She had been nervous for several days as well, and had been even more so after her Headmaster had been observed taking a stroll with Hagrid towards the dragon paddocks.

Cedric Diggory had glanced up quickly from his own blank stare, given him a small nod in greeting, and gone back to his thoughts. Harry was glad he had asked Susan to pass on a warning about the dragons soon after their arrival, and given the man a chance to prepare. He knew with some certainty that McGonagall was far too much a sportswoman to cheat, unlike the other headmasters.

Not long after they had been assaulted by the flash of a camera, leaving the whole group blinking to try and regain their sight, as the caustic voice of a woman he had come to loath in a short time, Rita Skeeter, filled the tent.

He had originally met the woman during the weighing of the wands, a general check and verification of readiness of the wand they would be using, and had been thoroughly unimpressed. She was garish, harsh, condescending and impudent, all within the first ten seconds.

When she had tried to drag him into a small room and 'get to the heart' of the way he had been raised, as a muggle, and how awful it must have been, he had refused but she had persisted. Even going so far as to imply that it had been a shame that his parents had sacrificed so much for something like that to have happened.

It was at that point that McGonagall shook off her surprise, and tossed the woman out on her ear.

Skeeter now once again began her 'reporting' only for it to be cut off seconds later by the entry of the headmasters and Ludo Bagman for the drawing of the lots.

This had begun with Fleur, and ended when Harry drew his own. After that all that remained was the wait.

Fleur had gone first; he had watched her during the time between the selection and her exit from the tent as she had become increasingly more agitated, and her skin became more sallow until she reached the point at which she was almost vibrating with nervous energy.

Once she was gone he did his level best to focus on anything other than the sounds coming from the stadium. Every roar from the beast made him clench his teeth and jump, and each gasp from the crowd made his stomach flip.

Until, finally, there was a deafening thunder of applause from the assembled spectators and moments later the singed blond woman stumbled back into the tent, favoring her left side with a noticeable limp, and a look of pain twisting her normally beautiful face. Under her arm was a massive golden egg.

She had done it! She had beaten the dragon and lived!

Once she was being seen to by the med-witch the next name was called, Victor Krum.

Once again the two remaining contestants could do nothing more than listen to the sound of the crowd answer the roar of the dragon in an ever increasing crescendo. Until all at once there was silence, and the crowed gasped loudly as one. Cedric had looked up at that point his questioning look only answered with a shrug, as they waited to find out what happened.

It took almost another five minutes before Victor returned, covered in some form of viscous fluid and holding his egg, a look of disappointment etched on his face and headed for the hospital area.

Cedric had been called next. He stood slowly and walked past Harry with hesitant steps, pausing as he went to thank Harry for the warning about the dragons, then continuing out into the daylight outside.

This time Harry faced the silent void in the room alone.

Each roar, whether from the crowd or dragon, sent a cold chill down his spine. It didn't help that each idea they had war-gamed had ended in much the same way, with him becoming a light snack for a ten ton dragon.

Then suddenly it was over, as the crowd gave one more thunderous cheer. He paced as he waited for Cedric to return, each moment feeling longer than the last.

The tent flap flew open and Cedric stumbled in, favoring his side, but his eyes were filled with relief and he had his egg under his left arm. "Harry!" he said, with a gasp. "Good luck…" Harry nodded numbly. Cedric opened his mouth to say something more, then shut it again, shook his head and made his way toward the hospital area.

* * *

When Harry stepped into the stadium the crowd roared, only to be answered by the gigantic bronze dragon at the far end, punctuated with a blast of fire and heat that bellowed into the sky only to roll down the protective wards surrounding the field and protecting the crowd, raising the temperature on the field by a good ten degrees.

Harry stood there mouth agape at the monster, he had thought he had been prepared for the thing's sheer size, but this thing…

He pulled in a deep breath, and blew it out in time to hear the end of his introduction, **"Harry Potter!"**

He turned slowly to look at the crowed, scanning over them without really seeing them, then turned back toward the dragon, and drew his wand as he ran toward one of the large boulders, a gout of flame roaring down the length of the field as he did making him flinch back and duck down into a deep gouge to escape the heat.

He paused at that point, gathering his concentration and focus before casting the spell that would set in motion the one plan that they had determined to have better than a minimal chance of success. _"ACCIO!"_

He stood, hidden behind the large boulder, for several seconds, his arm outstretched continuing to pour power into the spell. A smile broke out on his face as a black blob became visible sailing through the air toward him, only to almost knock him off his feet as the heavy modified trunk impacted his chest.

Harry chuckled, he may have only been able to enter the field with his wand, they never said anything about bringing something in once he was here.

Standing he pulled the canvas bag that was fastened to the top loose and began to open it.

When they first began their discussions about how he was going to accomplish this task a lot of time had gone into the way it _could_ be done. The simplest way would have resulted in a couple of things they did not want,

1)Harry's true abilities would be placed on display.

2) As would his ability to obtain special equipment not normally available in the non magical world.

3) It would also most likely mean the dragon's death.

Well, what other result could you expect if you used an anti-tank missile…

That idea was thrown out almost immediately.

In the end it had been Amelia who had given them a possible answer, and had arranged for them to be able to test it twice without being seen.

Harry reached into the bag and tugged the rubber gasmask out of the case and placed it over his face making sure the fit was secure and the straps were tight. Once he was positive he was ready he opened the trunk and cast a spell as soon as the creature breathed again.

As soon as the blast subsided he ripped the top of the trunk open pointed his wand toward the now open mouth, and yelled " _VENTUS!_ "

Sweat poured down his face as he continued the spell, using it to blow the vapors of the earlier spell towards the great beast. When they tested this the area had not been this large, nor had it been against this particular dragon, but he had been assured that it would work, he just had to keep it up until the petrifaction potion took hold and brought the monster to a halt.

His arm was beginning to shake with effort when he felt it, the heavy impact of the dragon toppling to the ground.

After canceling the spell he carefully stuck his head around the edge of the boulder to be on the safe side. He smiled under the rubber, and looked back at the crowd, who were looking on in almost complete silence.

Harry then turned his attention back toward his task, shut the trunk lid, and made his way toward his goal as quickly as he could.

Harry made his way back to the tent with his egg under his arm, glad that everything worked out the way they had hoped.

* * *

He had barely stepped inside the champions' tent when he was confronted by several of the dragon handlers wanting to know what he had done to their dragon.

He growled back at them, "If you had been that concerned for them in the first damn place then you wouldn't have _allowed_ them to be used like this!"

He poked the lead man in the chest. "And it is LORD Potter to you!" He waved his hand toward the field, "Those were nesting females! I hope you at the very least took some sort of precautions to protect their eggs!"

"They did not," said a voice from behind him, as Sirius walked into the tent. "You did good kid," he said. "Krum cast a Conjunctivitis Curse at his dragon's eyes and while it was thrashing around it crushed its eggs.

Harry shook his head. "And _you're_ worried over what a fourth year did?" he responded. "It was just a trunk full of a petrifaction potion! It will wear off soon… Now get out of my way!" he said pushing past them into the hospital area, followed by Sirius.

He was met by a trio of surprised champions. It was Fleur who spoke. "Y-you got your egg?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I got lucky…" He shrugged and placed the egg on the table and let the med-witch begin her scan. "Hermione helped me find the potion and spell, and the Greengrasses and Longbottoms helped me get all of the ingredients together then Alex helped me make enough… my dad got me the gasmask from military surplus…Sirius got me the trunk. It was kind of a team effort."

Cedric smiled, "I'm just glad we all survived."


	10. Chapter 10

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 10**

Harry entered the Gryffindor common room to the cheers of his housemates. A small frown crossed his face as he made his way through the short tunnel, to come to a stop just inside the doorway where a butterbeer was shoved in his hand, the egg grabbed and he was hoisted onto the shoulders of some of the revellers.

He was getting angry when his and Alex's eyes locked on one another, and she shook her head. Sighing internally, he let himself relax and be carried around the room by his house mates. It didn't take long for the revelry to devolve enough for him to slip away, with Hermione and Alex not far behind.

Harry stomped his way towards the chamber, angrily muttering the entire way. Once downstairs he finally exploded. "DAMN THEM!" he said throwing himself onto the couch. "Don't they get it? I could have been killed out there! For some stupid GAME! How in the hell can these people be so stupid!"

"Harry, what's really bothering you?" Alex asked sitting near his feet, as Hermione moved to the chair just above his head. "You've faced things like this before, why is this bothering you so much?"

Harry sighed, rolling over so he could stare toward the ceiling. "It's spiraling out of control… Dumbledore, the attacks, dementors, this contest… something is brewing just under the surface… I… I thought we were ahead of the situation. The changes in the Wizengamot, restructuring the Department of Mysteries, the advances with the IWC…"

Alex rubbed his leg absently as they listened to the young man vent, till he fell silent. "Harry you have made extraordinary strides toward those goals… But you can only do so much at once."

He sighed again. "I know… but we're running ourselves into the ground here, what with keeping an eye on the security, our magical and non-magical studies, our training, and being ready for Hogsmeade days… and now the tournament itself… we need help."

Hermione sat back in her chair thinking. "Could your father possibly…" she pondered…

"No," Harry cut in. "They are still running very thin in the new section. It is hard enough, with their training, to get the squad to help cover Hogsmeade on the weekend Hogwarts visits… No, there are still just too few people we can trust, especially with the secrets we've hidden here, those must be kept at all costs."

Hermione chewed on her lip, as her leg bounced, lost in thought. "Then we need to, take that into account… I think I have a couple of ideas," she said sitting forward, and beginning to explain.

* * *

Sirius made his way towards the gates of a beautiful home. "I hope this works…" he said checking his watch. "Only for you would I even try to get out of bed this early."

At exactly 6:00am he placed his hand on the family crest on the wall and announced his presence. "Lord Black to see Mr. Patil on a matter that is time sensitive."

Moments later the gate clicked open and a disembodied voice spoke. "Master Patil will be with you shortly, please come up to the house."

The door swung open as Sirius approached, revealing a young man dressed smartly in servant's attire. "My master would like to know if you would like to join him for breakfast?"

"After we conclude our business I would be delighted," Sirius said, patting his briefcase. "Please be sure to tell him that this is most urgent, may I wait for him in his office please?"

The young man nodded and gestured toward a doorway. "My master will join you shortly."

When Sirius entered he stood strategically, between the doorway and the desk, facing the door both arms resting easily holding the handle of his briefcase.

It took almost five minutes before he heard footsteps, then the door handle rattle, just before the door opened and a man stepped inside. "Sirius! It's good to-"

"Mr. Patil, I am here today on behalf of my Godson, and future Lord Black, Lord Potter-Black. I am pleased to greet you on the occasion of your daughters' fifteenth birthday."

Shyam Patil had expected many things when he had heard his friend Sirius Black had arrived at such a ridiculous hour for him, drawing him away only moments after his morning meditation, but this? A formal greeting, with his daughters' ages so prominently featured? No, not that!

He stared at the man for a moment, before nodding. "I thank you for your greeting," he said formally.

"On this occasion my Godson has sent a gift on his behalf," he said, as he set the briefcase in one of the chairs facing the desk and withdrew a stack of papers. "The first is to you and your lovely wife on what should be one of your proudest days, along with congratulations for raising a pair of amazing daughters."

Mr. Patil took the offered pages and opened them carefully to find the title to a home on the shores of the Mediterranean in the south of Spain. His eyes widened. "A-a most generous gift to be sure… I will accept this in the spirit it is given. Please relay to him our thanks."

Sirius smiled. "Lord Potter-Black also knows the importance of family," he began. "To that end he wishes to congratulate the Patils as a family, for giving rise to the treasures that are your daughters." He reached into the briefcase again and retrieved another stack of papers.

Shyam reached out for them with a shaking hand, and opened them. Inside he found the ownership paperwork, made out to his family, to three separate properties, one in London, one in Madrid, and one in Paris, each within the magical districts. Storefronts to sell his family's product directly to the population.

"Again, I am astounded to be the recipient of such a gift and will take receipt of it for my family with their thanks," he said, his voice breaking slightly, these two gifts had the potential to change everything for his family, moving them from just wholesale merchants into entirely new frontiers. His brother would be stunned by the fact.

"And now on to business, unless you have questions about the gifts?" Sirius asked.

Shyam shook his head. "No please, go ahead," he said gesturing to a chair as he circled around to sit behind the desk.

"Lord Potter-Black wished for me to research, prepare and deliver this proposal at this hour, on this morning and no later," he said. He reached into the briefcase for a final time and withdrew a large accordion folder and passed it to the stunned man.

He slowly unwound the string, and began to read, briefly looking up at the man across from him and the large smile on his face.

* * *

When his wife, Priya made it downstairs for breakfast she found the pair of men sitting at the table, each with a drink in hand toasting the future!

Making her way towards them she sighed internally. Shyam had been dreading this morning for months and now that it was here he had found yet another way to avoid the unpleasantness of his daughters being used to further his family's business.

While they had been lucky, and love had come to their relationship over time, they both knew that the most likely outcome for their daughters would not be so pleasant as they were highly desired as twins.

"Good morning, my husband," she said, sitting next to him, allowing her hand to cover his briefly and giving him a look that told him quickly she was displeased with his actions. "Good morning Sirius, you are an unexpected surprise this morning."

Sirius spoke before her husband could. "I'll admit, rousting myself from bed at such an hour is out of character, but it was for a good cause!" he said with a chuckle. "Harry would have never forgiven me had I screwed up all of his plans, not to mention Cissy! She has put the most work into this of anyone, couldn't do any less you see."

Priya was becoming aggravated with the situation, but she held her temper. While the business of the day would not be pleasant she was certain, she would rather have it over. That was why she had delayed as long as she had coming down to breakfast, in hopes she could hear the outcome first thing and get it over with, like ripping of a bandage all at once.

Her husband nodded and turned to face her, his face wide with a genuine smile that irritated her all the more. "And I can understand why! Good morning to you my dear wife!" he said grasping her hand and bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss.

She stiffened for a moment as he did, this was unlike Shyam! He would never so openly display his affections for her in public. Especially on such a day!

He lowered her hand, but kept it lightly held in his grasp. "Sirius's visit is one that has brought my heart great joy, and I believe it will bring the same to you as well!"

Her eyes widened, then narrowed into slits. "Shyam, what have you done now?"

At that Sirius broke into deep booming laughter.

* * *

Harry dropped into the seat across from the first friends he had made in the wizarding world. "You two need to quit picking at your food and actually eat something. It's going to feel like a long time till lunch if you don't."

They both looked up in an odd mirror image and looked at him, their eyes bloodshot, and with deep bags under them. It was Padma that spoke. "I -" She glanced at her sister, "We're not that hungry… We had trouble sleeping last night. It was a bad day for us yesterday."

He looked at each of them in turn. "That's too bad, you shouldn't have been feeling bad on your birthday…"

Parvati looked at him quizzically. "You knew it was our birthday?"

He nodded, a wide smile on his face. "Of course! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't keep track of things like that?" he said with a shrug.

Parvati sighed. " _This_ is one birthday we could do with everyone forgetting about…" she said sadly.

Padma grasped at her sister's hand. "It will be okay Par…" she said softly, then looked at Harry. "Look, can we talk about something else? Today is going to be hard enough as it is…" She took a deep breath to steady herself, but knowing she owed her friends at least some form of explanation. "We expect to find out who our husband will be soon… Offers for our hands will have begun to arrive early yesterday morning."

Gasps came from several people at the table. Susan broke the silence that had fallen at her words. "I'm so sorry… we didn't think…" she glanced around the table at the others and fell silent again.

Just before breakfast ended and they were walking down the hallway, they were approached by Headmistress McGonagall. "Good morning to all. Ms. Patil, Ms. Patil," she said to each girl in turn, "Would you please accompany me to my office."

Parvati collapsed into her sister's arms as they stood, crying. McGonagall's eyes widened. "What on earth is wrong child? You are not in trouble. Your father just wishes to speak with you in person!"

If anything her wracking sobs became harder, catching the Headmistress even further off guard. "He wasn't angry! He said there was some news he knew you had been waiting on, and would want right away! He even looked quite pleased about it!"

Harry stepped forward taking both of the now crying girls in a hug, "Maybe we can speak more about this in your office Headmistress?"

She nodded quickly. "Thank you for your help Mr. Potter."

* * *

They entered the office to the sight of a smiling Mr. and Mrs. Patil. Both of the girls immediately stood straighter, and were glad Harry had insisted they take a moment in the hallway outside the Headmistress's office to gather themselves and wipe their eyes.

"Father, Mother," they said in unison, then Parvati, the oldest, continued. "The Headmistress said you wished to speak with us?"

"I did!" he said with a smile, as he approached them. "I wanted to give you the news in person! I wanted to spare you as much turmoil as I could, which in the end was easier than I originally expected!"

He hugged each of them in turn. "You, my beautiful daughters, have brought more joy into my life than I ever expected! You are both kind, intelligent young women who I am proud, no honored, to say I am the father of!"

He returned to the side of his wife. "As is my lovely wife."

The twin girls looked at each other then back at their parents, silently wondering what was going on. They had never seen their father act like this, especially in public. It was making them nervous.

Mr. Patil became a bit more serious. "As you know, today is the day that your betrothal is to be decided. I am pleased to say that there was much interest in your hand!"

The girls looked at each other nervously, then stepped closer together wrapping an arm around each other for support.

"In the end, one offer stood out!" he said with no small amount of pride.

McGonagall began to say something, but Harry reached out and stopped her, shaking his head as brought his finger to his lips in a 'shhh' gesture.

"One that will benefit our family for generations to come!" he said. "You both should be proud you are so highly thought of!" Shyam felt his wife's elbow poke him in his ribs, hard. He looked at both of his daughters again, they were on the verge of collapse.

"It is with great pleasure I announce the _alliance_ between the Merchant Family Patil, and Lord Pottter-Black, as -"

Both of the girls' heads snapped towards the young man that had accompanied them to the office. "You?" they both said as one, confusion etched on their face.

A wide smile showed on Harry's face. "I think you may want to listen to the rest befor-"

Both girls crossed the room in a flash, their arms wrapping around the young man. "-e you jump- Ooff!" he breathed out as they squeezed. "to any conclusions," he said wrapping his arms around them.

A chuckling Mr. Patil cleared his throat a moment later, causing both girls to release their hugs. "As I was _saying._ It is with great pleasure I announce the _alliance_ between the Merchant Family Patil and Lord Pottter-Black, as set forth in the binding contact agreed to and enacted upon between my brother Ramon, head of the Patils, and Lord Potter-Black's Godfather, Sirius Black, on his behalf… With your mother's and my blessing," Both girls eyes grew wide at that - "I am pleased to announce…" He paused for a moment for dramatic effect, till he felt his wife's elbow in his side again. "our vassalage to House Potter-Black, and his acceptance of the two of you as his wards and family."

The room grew silent as the information settled into the girls' minds. Padma was the first of them to speak. "We're not being forced to marry you?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No one is going to force you to marry anyone you don't wish to, not as long as I am head of the family at any rate."

Parvati turned toward him slowly. "So you knew about this?" she asked, anger seeping into her voice. "And didn't tell us?"

Harry took a step back from the pair of now angry young women. "I-I didn't want you to get your hopes up if our research was wrong, and we couldn't do it this way… I …"

He glanced up toward the elder Patils, Mr. Patil mouthed one word towards him. "Run!"

When he glanced back down he saw both girls had their wands in their hands. "Bloody hell!" he said, bolting for the door.

"Language!" he heard yelled from behind him as a pair of different colored beams struck the stonework around him as he dove down the stairs, and away from the Headmistress's office.


	11. Chapter 11

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 11**

James sank back against the seatback in surprise. "You have got to be kidding me!" he said, as he rubbed a hand across his face. "That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard!"

M shrugged, she had said much the same thing when Mr. Gold had given her the information. "As much as I wish I could tell you it was a joke, it's the truth."

James felt like he wanted to scream. "Are all of the employees in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry morons?" he asked. "Harry is going to go ballistic when I tell him this!"

M sighed. "I have no doubt he will be upset James," she said. "Unfortunately we have little we can do about it at this time."

"How sure are you about this information?" he asked, even though he knew that she wouldn't have said anything about it unless she knew it was iron clad.

"We got the information from Ludo Bagman himself," she said sliding a folder across the table to him. "He is in debt to Mr. Gold's people for a ridiculous sum, it seems he likes to gamble on the very events he is to oversee and he does rather poorly despite his 'inside information'. Mr. Gold is using him to gather information about the upcoming events."

James nodded; he knew any information Ragnarok had gathered had also been vetted through other sources as well. "Alright," he said as he glanced through the file. "We've got until February to figure something out… Do we have any idea about how the selection will happen?"

"Not at this time," she replied. "There are some factors that are causing issues with the selection process that was originally put in place, but once the decision has been made we will know almost immediately."

James nodded. "Alright, I'll talk to Harry about it and start preparing him for the second task."

M nodded and slid another package across the table to him. "You might want to mention this to him as well."

James opened the folder and a wide grin came across his face. "He won't be happy about the timing," he said with a chuckle, "but this is something he can put some of his more… esoteric training to the test with."

M's left eyebrow rose. "Just make sure he doesn't go overboard… or get into any trouble."

James had already risen, leaving both of the folders on the desk, and made his way toward her door. "And why would you think something like that would happen?" he asked, tugging the inside door open and walking out.

M grumbled as the door sealed shut. "Oh, I don't know… Macao? Tokyo? Las Vegas? Rome? Monte Carlo? Rio? Miami?" She shook her head, then looked at the door again her hand going towards a button on her intercom.

"Yes?" said a tiny voice from the speaker.

"Once you are done exchanging pleasantries with 007, would you put in a call to Skyfall? I would like to speak with Granger as soon as possible."

* * *

Harry slapped the bolt home on the MP5, letting it ring with a satisfying 'clack'. "Is everything in place?" he asked, placing the weapon on the table at the edge of the firing range dividers.

Alex nodded, placing her own weapon next to his. "It is. The goblins sent word this morning so they should be on their way soon," she said, looking at her watch. "Are you sure about this?" she asked. "They aren't…the most…" Her voice died off.

Harry chuckled. "I think Hermione's idea was spot on, I've been watching them as well for some time. Despite what people believe, they are something quite different from how they appear."

Alex nodded. "Alright, if you say so."

The lights flickered in the chamber, changing briefly to red then back to normal light. "They are on their way," she said, gathering the weapons off the table into their cases quickly. "Glad we finished cleaning these, I'll put them up. You meet out guests at the door."

"Yes, dear," he said with a chuckle. "You hide the toys. Hermione is following them down, right? After she shuts the entrance?"

Alex nodded. "She's up there, under the cloak Croaker brought yesterday, with the map and watching their progress… Too bad he needs that thing back, it may not be as nice, or as powerful as yours, but it is still useful."

Harry nodded. "Given its rarity I can understand his wanting to keep track of it," he said, making his way toward the sitting area where he picked up a large cloak that would cover him all the way to his feet and swept it around him, then pulled up the hood concealing his identity, and nodded to the man that was already seated there. "Alex will be here in a moment, she's putting up the last of the weapons."

Moody nodded. "It's alright Lad, we have a few minutes," he replied, looking down at the coffee table in front of him where a duplicate of the original map had been re-created as part of the table itself. "They are still on the way down," he said, pointing to a pair of black dots making their way down a hallway.

Harry glanced at their progress then at the other dots representing others in the castle. "Looks quiet."

Moody shrugged. "Anyone up to no good would have… what's that?" he said sitting forward, as a dot moved quickly from one of the dorm common rooms and made its way toward one of the staircases."

Harry glanced up. "Crap!" he groaned, as he jumped up and shed the cloak, and ran for the doorway out, grabbing his school robe as he did. "I've got to stop Hermione!"

* * *

"Are you sure this is where the message said to go?" the first figure hidden in shadow whispered. "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?"

"For the hundredth time, YES!" the other figure hissed back. "You read the bloody thing yourself!"

The pair crossed the hallway as quietly as mice, and slowly pushed open the door.

"H-hello?" the first shade said haltingly.

Pushing on, the pair entered the girls' bathroom clinging close to one another.

"Hello?" it said again.

Both of them stood, mouths agape as they heard stone grate against stone and a passageway open, leading to darkness somewhere beyond.

"Th-Think that is an invitation?" the second form said.

"I believe it is more of an opportunity!" said a voice neither of them expected from the still open doorway behind them. "Isn't it exciting!" it said, rushing past them and into the passage.

The pair of figures scarcely caught a glimpse of the figure as it sped by, trailing silver behind it in the moonlight.

"I don't know if I would call it exciting!" whispered the first figure.

"More like, bloody terrifying!" said the second.

"Shall we?" asked the first after a moment. "You first!" gesturing toward the passage.

"No, you first, by all means!" replied the second.

"Together?" the first asked.

"Together!" said the second.

Taking a deep breath they both stepped into the abyss.

Less than thirty seconds later, with the sound of stone scraping on stone the passage disappeared.

* * *

Harry grumbled silently, as he followed the now mostly blond headed girl down the stairs. He had only just avoided colliding with her as she stormed into the entrance to the chamber and down the stairs, as he was hidden under his invisibility cloak.

'How in the world had she even known?' he wondered.

'We took all kinds of precautions!' he thought, staring at her back as she made it to the bottom, and looked around.

"So this is the Chamber of Secrets!" she said cheerfully. "Daddy would have loved to have seen this, and written about it in the Quibbler… though I don't believe the current holder of the Chamber will allow such a thing," she said to no one in particular, as she glanced around and headed towards the vault door that was standing open.

Stepping into the Chamber proper she waved, politely, at the pair seated on the couch. "Hello sir!" she said, skipping down the ramp. "I'm sorry for intruding! I'll just entertain myself until you are done with your meeting," she said as she passed, "This is oh so exciting!"

The pair's heads swiveled to follow her as she passed, then towards each other, the smaller one's shoulders raised in a shrug.

Harry suddenly appeared out of thin air, swinging his invisibility cloak off and under the large armchair, sweeping up the dark cloak and settling it about himself and pulling up the hood.

"Don't ask me!" he hissed quietly. "I have no idea!"

The larger seated figure shook its head in disgust. "Just sit, we'll deal with it later."

Harry had just finished arranging himself when the sounds of footsteps could be heard from up the ramp.

"Come in!" said the largest figure, sitting up straighter.

A pair of redheads appeared looking around the edge of the vault door, their eyes wide.

"I said come in! And have a seat!" he said gesturing to the couch across from him. "Or do we need to stun you and drag you in."

The pair glanced nervously at each other then at the man, but slowly moved to comply.

Their eyes roved the room around them with its massive pillars and roughly wrought walls.

The one on the left finally spoke as they sat. "What is this place?" he asked. "W-we thought we knew every passage in the castle…"

"Even the fabled Marauders never found this place," said the man across from them. "Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets."

Both of their eyes grew wide. "The Chamb… But what about Slytherin's monster?" the other brother asked in a rush.

"Long since gone," he said, waving away their concerns.

The boy nodded, then they both jumped as the grinding of stone came from behind them and the vault door crashed into place.

"Just a precaution, you will be free to leave after our meeting is concluded," the man said.

"Meeting?" the one on the right asked. "We were told that we could get back a piece of our property by coming here tonight."

The man's hood shook back and forth. "I am sorry but that particular artifact will be staying in our possession."

The boy on the left looked crestfallen. "B-but it belonged to our heroes..."

"Yes, yes," the man said. "The Marauders, we know, but that is unimportant at the moment. It is the pair of you that have come to our interest…"

The pair glanced towards each other, then the figures across from them. "You're… You're… Unspeakables!" they said in tandem.

None of the figures moved or offered any form of confirmation.

"What do want from us?"

"Well, George," the figure said, "before we get into that, I want you to answer a couple of questions. Your answers will determine much of what will happen here tonight."

The pair of teens looked at each other, then nodded their consent.

"Why are you manipulating your grades?" he asked.

Both of their eyes widened till Moody thought they would pop out of their skulls. "H-how did...?" George's voice dropped off.

"I said you have garnered our interest," Moody said with a growl. "Did you not expect us to check on something so obvious? Every question that is wrong on one of your papers or tests is correct on the other, every essay topic exhaustively researched and well written with all relevant information on one or the other of your papers! You are manipulating the professors' expectations of you and keeping yourself firmly in the top third of your classes when you could quite easily be at the top! What we want to know is why?"

The boys looked at each other then at the man across from them. Fred looked down at his hands, then spoke. "We don't…" His voice trailed off.

"You do!" The man accused. "What is more, you have 'borrowed' several other books that are in the possession of your housemates at one time or another and are studying _muggle_ subjects!"

Both of them looked up at that, not even their sister had suspected that!

The man across from them stood. "And for that I say…" He stepped around the table toward the frightened pair… "good initiative!" he said sticking out his hand to shake each of theirs in turn. "They have a lot they can teach us!"

Both of them looked at each other confused, after shaking his hand. "I understand that both of you have dreams of your own, but I am here to ask you something important."

George and Fred looked back towards him. "We are here to ask you to become part of the next generation of Unspeakables." They both gaped openly at him, "By all means continue your dreams, we will even help you attain them as a part of your cover."

The pair of redheads turned to each other, a silent conversation taking place in a flash between them, this was an honor they just could not turn down! To think, them, Unspeakables!

In seconds they had given their consent, and he nodded. "Seeing as your birthday has yet to arrive we will need someone in your family to consent to your induction…"

Both of them paled; while their father would be overjoyed he could never keep it to himself! And their mother… She'd kill them both! Not so much for their becoming Unspeakables but for making her think their grades were not as good as they should be.

"Now…" the man said rubbing his chin under his hood. "Glenda, please ask our other guest to join us."

The smallest figure stood and walked deeper into Chamber, returning not long after with another figure in tow, who pushed his cloak down and smiled at the pair of twins as he approached.

" _BILL!_ " The pair exclaimed and leaped off of their seats, hugging their brother. "We thought you were still in Egypt! How long have you been back?" They stepped back realizing now how he was dressed. "You're an Unspeakable?" they asked in tandem.

"Oath first then talk!" grumbled the man under the hood.

Bill nodded, extending his hand showing the Weasley heir ring. "As heir I support their decision."

A short oath later the two newest Unspeakables were ushered into the ranks of the Research Department.


	12. Chapter 12

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 12**

Harry watched from under his hood, his face still hidden, as the pair of twins sat with their brother and Moody to begin their introduction into being an Unspeakable. It was a short time later when he motioned to Alex and the unseen Hermione still hidden under the invisibility cloak, to join him as he stood and walked further into the Chamber.

He found Luna sitting on the edge of the pool, her light blue dress pushed up above her knees and her feet dangling in the water. "Hello Harry! Alex!" she said brightly. "I do like it here! How do you keep the water so warm?" she asked. "I thought about swimming but I thought it wouldn't be wise with the Weasleys here, as their mother wouldn't approve of me swimming with no swimsuit in front of them."

Harry glanced at Alex, then towards the Weasleys who were still involved in their own discussion, then back to the younger girl, before pushing back his hood. "Luna… How did you know about… Well… all of this?" he asked, gesturing around him.

She shrugged. "Patterns… They told me." She looked up at him. "Where's Hermione? I thought she'd be here with you and Alex?"

Harry looked over his shoulder towards Alex and the empty space that held a slight ripple near the floor where the cloak around Hermione had pooled. He inclined his head slightly and gave her a nod.

With a sweep of her arm Hermione appeared from under the cloak.

By the time Harry had turned back to the smaller girl, a pleased smile had grown across her face. "Hello Hermione!" she said. "An invisibility cloak? I didn't think Harry had but the one! And he doesn't often let it out of his sight. May I ask where you found it? They are quite rare."

Hermione chuckled. "A little bird dropped it off for me to borrow for a day or two… By the way Luna my father wanted me to ask, why haven't you cashed the check he gave you for the computer?"

Luna tilted her head in question. "I put the piece of paper in my vault at the bank just as he asked."

Hermione looked at Harry who was trying to keep from laughing. "I think your father has been outmaneuvered Hermione, he needs to just accept it."

Harry sat next to the still partially purple haired girl, pulling off his shoes and socks then rolling up his pant legs. Once he was done he swiveled around and lowered his feet into the water. "Ok, Miss Observant, where did we mess up?"

Luna leaned over, snuggling under Harry's left arm and wrapping her arms around him. "You? Well the pistol would have been the first clue, if it had not been for the attack on me during my first year… You never have introduced me to your friend," she said looking up at him. "He was very pretty. I would still like to meet him."

Harry smiled down at her. "We'll talk about it over Christmas, now go on…"

She shrugged and burrowed back into him. "I don't know how May doesn't see it actually… the hidden switch in the living room, the false wall in your father's office… and Merlin forbid you get your hand caught in one of the doors to the outside at your house! Those things weigh a ton!" she said quietly.

Harry chuckled; she was right about that, they had heavy steel cores and were mounted on hinges specially designed by Q branch.

She shrugged. "But I expect you are asking more about my presence here tonight…" She looked at Hermione and Alex who were both now sitting nearby on the floor. "Did you know that we can see the Gryffindor tower from Ravenclaw? One of our common room windows looks straight across to yours... it's a small window, only room for one person to sit and it's my favorite place in the Aerie… that's what we call our common room, the Aerie."

Hermione shook her head and Alex looked surprised, as Luna continued. "Harry has been looking more and more tired lately, as have Alex and Hermione, though it is less evident on Hermione. I don't think she has been keeping the schedule the two of you have for as long…"

She sighed. "Then this morning the twins started acting excited, almost giddy. Something I haven't seen since before I came to school, when I caught them planning to prank Ronald, and as I have not heard one of Molly's howlers since my arrival here I suspect that they have not had much luck in their endeavors as of late."

Alex smirked, "Well that makes sense, the key to their success must have been the map Harry."

Harry nodded. "Then it's a good thing we are going to give them something else to focus their energy on rather than just pranks."

Luna waited for them to finish then continued. "I knew, from staying with her during the summer, that Hermione was part of whatever you were doing, and was tired of waiting for you to include me… I'm sorry Harry…I understand you were waiting for something… probably for us to be older, but you need help now, and I want to help any way I can," she said hugging him tighter.

Harry sighed. "You are a very smart young woman, my Luna," he said giving her shoulder a squeeze. "How long have you known?"

She shrugged, keeping her eyes down and away from the others. "A while, though I suspect my computer ability was a surprise."

"My little moon, you are a constant surprise!" he said kissing the top of her head. "I will let you help me, but other than Alex and Hermione no one can know that you are. Deal?"

She nodded. "Good, now I'll take you someplace tomorrow, and show you what I need. If you need something, and you can't find me, go to Alex next then Hermione, ok?" Again she nodded. "Alright you stay here until the twins leave and Alex and I will take you back to Ravenclaw."

"Can we sit here a little longer Harry?" she asked. "This is nice, and tomorrow _is_ Sunday."

"Of course we can Luna." He smiled at the other girls gesturing for them to join them. "We can sit here as long as you like tonight. Think of it as a welcome to the Chamber of Secrets."

* * *

" _Is it ready Brother_?" asked the olive skinned man as he walked into the room, his deep Italian voice echoing among the stone walls, his dark eyes glinting in the morning sun.

" _It is_ ," said the man sitting at the desk, hanging up the phone. " _I just confirmed our man was able to slip the package in as scheduled. By this time tomorrow the threat will be but a memory_."

" _Excellent_!" he replied clapping the man on his shoulder, " _I am going to visit Father, and will report your success is imminent_!" He paused on his way out. " _You know that despite the fact that we have handled the situation Palmiro will need to answer for the security breach, as will you when the operation is complete."_

The man at the table nodded, " _I have spoken to him about it, and he is ready to accompany you to Father to answer for it personally_."

" _Have him join me downstairs in fifteen minutes, Father does not like to be kept waiting and he is expecting me for lunch_ ," he said before continuing out the door and down the hallway.

The man at the desk slumped back in the chair. This fiasco was going to cost them one of their best men! Shaking his head he sighed as he looked at the clock. If all went as planned he would receive confirmation in about eight hours. Then it would be his turn to travel to Father and apologise for his failure in his selection of Palmiro for the security detail in the city.

This had been his failure as much as his man's. He wiped his face with his hand and sat forward going back to work. He had much to do before he made his apology to Father, and his replacement would need a clear picture of all this position entailed.

* * *

James stepped into his new office to be met with a ringing phone. He reached for it automatically as he removed his jacket and loosened his tie, placing his cup of coffee on the table. "Bond!" he said into the hand set.

"M wants you in the situation room, James," said the disembodied voice of M's secretary, Moneypenny.

"I'm on my way," he said, preparing to hang up.

"James… James, this is a bad one…" she said sounding shaken. She then hung up without another word.

James looked at the phone eyes wide in surprise as he laid the handset in the cradle.

Seconds later the room was empty, jacket forgotten, and coffee still cooling where he had left it next to the phone.

The door of the situation room slid open, James slipping around it even as it did, his eyes moving to the monitors around the room. He struggled to make sense of the information.

"James!" said a voice from his right.

Turning he found Bill Tanner. "Bill! What is all of this?" he asked, gesturing to the monitors around them.

"British Airways flight 229, from London to Dulles International in Washington DC, exploded twenty-six minutes ago," he said, pointing to a CNN feed.

James slammed his hand down on the banister that surrounded the pit. "Damn it!" he said. "Who is heading this up? Us or the Americans?"

Bill pointed towards the front of the room, where a woman in a soft blue suit was speaking on the phone to someone. "M is hashing that out now."

Bond nodded. "What do we know? Give me a rundown."

Bill nodded, and began to bring him up to speed, not that there was much.


	13. Chapter 13

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 13**

James walked slowly towards his car, pondering everything that had happened during the day. British Airways flight 229 from London to Washington had left on schedule for its eight hour flight at 9:20am local time. It had experienced no trouble, and had not deviated from its projected flight plan in any significant way other than an altitude adjustment precipitated by a weather front causing turbulence, only to explode at 4:58 London time during its final approach, at an approximate altitude of four hundred feet, scattering debris for a mile or more in the area north of the interstate.

374 passengers, a crew of ten, and one 'dead head', a stewardess that was traveling as a perk on a vacation, all lost.

The FBI and FAA had teams on the way to the scene in less than an hour after the initial report and were beginning their assessment shortly after. Unfortunately the recovery efforts and any clues they held were still days, if not weeks, from any results.

In the short term they were hopeful that the 'black boxes' would yield up some information. The search for them was on-going at the moment, but they expected to find them and have them in the FAA work rooms within the next forty-eight hours.

The Americans were going to take the lead at the moment, at least until some other information could be found as to why this tragedy had occurred. Though some form of foul play seemed assured given the size of explosion and destruction caused.

James reached in his pocket for his keys, and pressed the button on the fob; an eyebrow quirked when no horn sounded and no lights flashed.

For a moment the idea of a dead battery, either in the fob or the auto, flittered through his mind, but that thought was dismissed almost immediately; Q branch would never allow such a thing to happen as their maintenance schedule was strictly enforced.

James placed his briefcase down gently, careful to keep it from making a sound, as he drew his pistol and crouched down between the cars nearby. He moved between the two parked cars towards their fronts, keeping out of sight.

Once at the front of the aisle he made his way, slowly, towards his vehicle. Only to stop one car away and raise up, just slightly, allowing him to look around. He saw, nor heard, any movement and after waiting several minutes he moved to the front of the BMW.

He knelt down peering under the chassis. Nothing looked out of place and there was nothing attached to the frame or elsewhere that he could see. Moving slowly, and avoiding touching anything he stood and peered inside.

A young blond woman, dressed in dark pants and blouse, was lying in his back seat with a gun pointed at him.

"That won't do you any good," he said casually. "The windows are bullet proof, Cedar," he continued as his lips curled up into a smile.

All of the tension in the young woman's body seemed to evaporate, as the gun sagged in her hand. "Uncle James! Thank god!" she said, moving to sit up and open the door, while keeping low at the same time. "I'm so glad to see you! I had just about given up hope that you were in London!"

"I take it you're the reason my car doesn't seem to work anymore?" he asked holding up the key.

She sighed. "Yeah… about that… Sorry," she said, looking down sheepishly. "I think I burnt something important out when I used the disabler on it."

He chuckled. "No worries. Q will want to see whatever you used though, fair warning."

"Maybe some other time," she said looking around nervously. "I need your help Uncle James."

"My help?" he said confused. "With what? The last I heard you were working in the Atlanta field office… Congratulations on getting Felix to agree on you joining the CIA, I know he was against it."

She nodded. "Yeah, well… I still am… and Dad… Dad, he's coming around. Dad, he even asked me to help someone out while I was on vacation. Pick up a package, and bring it back to them." She pushed open the door allowing James to sit down next to her.

"He said it was nothing illegal, and nothing important. Just a courier job, no muss no fuss. I was in Rome three days ago when I found someone in my room going through my things," the young woman said. "I high tailed it of course, I may be trained in hand to hand but the guy was twice my size!"

She plucked at a piece of lint on her leg. "I used a couple of the emergency IDs Dad made for me 'just in case', one for a false trail and one for me, and got out of the country as fast as I could."

James nodded. "Okay that much I understand, but why come to me?" he asked.

"It was what Dad told me to do if something went wrong." She shrugged. "And I quote. 'If something happens go to James'. So I used the first ID to book a through flight back to the states, and hopped a train from Rome to Paris then Paris to London through the new tunnel and came straight here."

James's eyes narrowed. "What flight?"

She shrugged. "British Airways…" She dug into her purse, and pulled out a small packet of papers. "229 to Dulles. The ID had paperwork for a stewardess flying to Washington-"

"Leave it to a Leiter to put their foot in it!" he said cutting her off. "Let me see the package you were to deliver," he said, holding out his hand.

She passed him the large bulky manila envelope. "Your flight exploded on final approach to Dulles late this afternoon our time…" he said, slipping the pages out of the envelope. His eyes widened. "Did Felix tell you the name of the person this was for?"

The shaken girl nodded. "H-he said his name was Copper."

James nodded and slid the pages back into the envelope. "Alright…" he said slowly, his head in a whirl. "We've got to keep you out of sight… and then I let your father know you're okay."

The young woman nodded again as tears rolled down her face. "Oh, God… all of those poor people…"

James gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. "You can't blame yourself for this Cedar," he said. "Whoever wanted to stop this package's delivery is to blame! Ok?" She nodded weakly. "We'll find whoever did this, I promise."

* * *

Harry checked the map before motioning to Luna it was okay to go outside. "So that is where you disappear to when Hermione and Alex can't find you?" she asked, stepping out of the control room the goblins had created within room of requirement to monitor things going on in the castle.

"My own private electronic monitoring haven, yes," he said.

"And I'm the only one that knows about it?" she asked, as she waited for him to make sure the room was secure.

"Alex knows it exists," he said honestly, "but not where it is, and Hermione doesn't know that much."

"But she does know the secret to opening all of the doorways and passages?" Luna confirmed.

"Not all of them, but most." he said leading her down the stair back towards Ravenclaw house.

"And when will I learn how to-" she waved her hand towards one of the portraits, one that Harry knew hid a secret passage downstairs to one of the locked offices.

He sighed. "Soon, my little moon, soon," he said as the made a turn and continued down a long hallway. " _But_ ," he said stopping to make sure he had her full attention. "I won't be teaching you to enter the Chamber alone. I don't want you down there by yourself!"

"But Her-" she began.

"Hermione doesn't know the entire combination either," he said. "I don't want either one of you down there alone! It could be dangerous! Okay?"

She nodded. "Fine! But I guess Alex is okay?"

Harry smiled. "Alex is a different story, alright? She… Well, let's just say there is more to her than meets the eye."

Luna thought about what he said for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Alright Harry, I understand… I'm younger than both of them as well."

"That doesn't matter to me," said Harry pulling the young girl into a hug. "I just don't want you hurt because of something down there."

"Okay," she said softly.

"Alright we're back," he said hugging her again. "I'll see you at breakfast." He watched as she disappeared into her dormitory.

Harry stepped into the Gryffindor common room and stretched. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week.

"So you got her settled in to her new nest?" Alex's voice asked from one of the large chairs near the fire.

He nodded. "Yeah, and she seemed at home there… she'll be able to use that stuff much better than I ever could dream of. I told her to leave the instructions there, if you see her out and around with them could you remind her? And tell Hermione the same thing?"

Alex nodded. "Sure," she said. "The twins are already beginning to pay dividends."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked. "In less than twenty-four hours? What could they have done in such a small amount of time?"

"More than one would think possible," she said leaning forward and handing him a small leather-bound book. "It's a copy of their joke book. A living record of their pranks, ideas and things they thought could be useful. Croaker wants us both to look it over and give him any insights… Those two are either geniuses or insane."

"Or possibly a little of both," Harry said, as he flipped through the book. Several entries caught his eye right away.

Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder- Powder that when dispersed in air causes complete darkness, area dependant on amount. Fifteen minute duration.

Potion lozenge- candy type encasement for a number of potions, up to one tablespoon.

Spell Shield- proof against most minor and mid level spells, can block some stunners.

Portable swamp- twelve by twelve swamp contained in a small box. NOTE: It can also contain several small animals, snakes and the like and one large creature.

Day Dream Box- Artificial experience created for the pleasure of the user, includes sight, sound, touch and taste.

Harry let the book fall closed. "My God! Do they have prototypes of any of these?"

She nodded. "Some… they lacked materials to make more than one or two for most of them. Croaker is going to gather them everything they need for at least a dozen of everything. He wants to see the lot of it as soon as possible."

Harry nodded. "So do I!"

She chuckled. "Boys and their toys," she said with a smile.

"Hmph…" he chortled. "Like you're any better? I bet you're carrying the oculus system Pussy gave you right now."

He laughed out loud as her hand moved to cover the lump in her robe pocket.

"Yeah, well…" she said eloquently. "Have you decided what you are going to do about the other thing?" she asked.

"I don't know that there is much of a choice…" he said dejectedly, sitting next to her. "I just can't ask anyone… and I don't want to put anyone at risk…"

"Harry it will be fine, I promise," she said.

He nodded. "Fine but I don't like the idea of you not having someone to watch your back."

"And you'd rather one of the others be put in that position?" she asked incredulously.

"Alright! Fine!" he said. "You win! Alex would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"


	14. Chapter 14

**_I apologize for the delay but illness has plagued my family for the last few weeks._**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 14**

The ice clinked in his glass as he took a final sip of the scotch, then set the now empty tumbler aside and picked up the heavy envelope.

He had gone over the events leading up to the way this packet had been placed in Cedar's care with meticulous detail. Not that it had been much help.

When he had heard the name Copper he had immediately whisked her out of the city and to the most secure location he knew of that was off the radar, the safe house he and Harry had set up for Alex to use.

Once they arrived he cooked while she talked.

Her trip to Italy had been planned for months, just her and a pair of girlfriends from her college days, a little sightseeing, a little wine, and a lot of good food. She hadn't even discussed the trip with her father till after the arrangements were complete and she had the tickets in hand.

James drummed the envelope in his hand as he thought about the events that had unfolded just before she left for Rome and after her arrival.

They were going to spend twelve days in Italy, the first day or two relaxing, then joining several day trips in the city and local area to see the sights. All in all it sounded like a well planned outing, if a little focused on the gastric element… though that was to be expected as one of the girls was a trained chef.

He smacked the envelope in his hand a final time before flipping it over and opening the flap, sliding a thick stack of parchment out as he did.

When her vacation was over she had manufactured a small incident at their hotel and stayed behind to take care of it, therefore missing her flight home. She switched her identity to one her father had arranged then checked into a hotel more in line with that of a steward on layover near the airport.

From there things began to go pear shaped.

The instructions she had been given by Felix were about what he would have expected for this type of mission. Arrive on time, keep your eyes open and head down, be at the appointed place for the drop on time, then make your way out by means that had been provided.

Cedar had told him that she almost didn't pick up the package at the drop site, a small bistro not far from one of the train stations on the main line from the city. She had almost finished her tea and left the package where it was, undisturbed, as she walked away.

When he had asked why, she had only shaken her head and shrugged. "I have no idea…" she had said. "It… It didn't feel right… I just couldn't put my finger on why…"

James had nodded in understanding; he had had the same feeling any number of times over his career, and many a time it had even saved his life. He knew Cedar had good instincts, he had seen as much himself during part of her training. She just did not have the experience in the field to make use of them.

After that she followed standard CIA protocol for sensitive information thankfully, did her evade maneuvers, and hid the information in a stash nearby until it was time to leave the country.

That is when her opponent made a serious mistake; he had become impatient and searched her room, during which she walked in on him.

Her description, while complete, was not all that helpful, 6'2", 250-260lbs. dark hair and eyes, with an olive skin tone, dressed in black slacks and shirt. He sounded like your garden variety thug... for Rome at any rate.

He hadn't said anything only given chase, so she had never heard him speak, and never seen his vehicle… without an accurate sketch it was a dead end.

James began reading, his mind still half on the remainder of what they had spoken about before he had sent her to take a shower and get some rest, while he made arrangements to inform her father of her safe arrival.

Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Pyrenees France

Catelobruxo, Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

Durmstrang Institute, Ice Fields, Norway

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Highlands, Scotland

Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, West Chester N. America

Koldovstoretz, Siberia, Russia

Mahoutokoro School of Magic, Minami Iwo Jima, Japan

Rajastan Institute of Magi, Ajmer India

Tianjin Academy, Langfang, China

Uagadou School of Magic, Mountains of the Moon, Uganda

Uluru, Mutitjulu, Australia

He sighed deeply as he read the list of eleven schools again, several of which he knew no longer existed such as Ilvermorny, destroyed during their Civil War, Mahoutokoro, lost during WWII, and Koldovstorez which did not survive Lenin according to the Americans.

He placed the cover page to the side and began going through the rest of the included parchments, estimated enrolment numbers, graduation estimates…

He paused and looked at the dates again.

Then flipped to the Hogwarts page. The estimates on the page were surprisingly accurate for the school, but when he looked again at Ilvermorny, which showed a population of just over 150 students, they couldn't be more wrong… as the school had been destroyed over a hundred years ago!

He needed an expert's opinion about where these pages had come from.

After shuffling the pages back together, he jotted down a quick note to Cedar to stay inside till he returned and made his way outside to join the flow of traffic back into the city.

* * *

Harry sat with his back against the wall, knees drawn up, sipping from his water.

"I expect your head of house informed you about the Yule ball Harry?" asked the half goblin seated on the bench next to him.

Harry nodded, wiping his face. "Yes sir, Professor Sinistra pulled me aside this afternoon."

The diminutive man nodded. "Excellent!" he said. "Have you made your decision as of yet, whom you may ask to accompany you?"

Harry sighed, and nodded. "There wasn't much of a choice…" he said softly. Flitwick turned to face him confused.

Harry took a deep breath and began the story Alex and he had come up with. "I've already deciphered the egg, and since the second task has often involved some form of 'rescue'…" He let his voice trail off, allowing the Deputy Headmaster to follow his logic.

The only problem was the man only looked more confused by the statement.

Harry sat for a moment stunned in disbelief. "Th- They didn't tell you did they?" he asked.

"I'm afraid that I do not understand Harry," he finally said.

"The egg…" he replied. "They didn't tell you or the Headmistress what the solution is!"

The half goblin shook his head. "No," he confirmed. "We have a meeting with Mr. Bagman on the sixteenth of January about the second task… We both believed that they would inform us of what was to transpire at that time… I must say I am quite impressed that you have already deciphered the clue! I know for a fact that Mr. Diggory is still struggling with it; even a Hufflepuff can only take so much before they complain about the noise that egg produces when open."

Harry chuckled. "It is quite loud… and I had help with the egg."

Flitwick scowled. "I hope that it was not one of the Professors, that would be cheating!"

"No," the young man said with a smirk. "Though it does have to do with someone from your old house," he said gesturing to the petite blond sparring with Hermione.

"Ms. Lovegood?" he asked, surprise filling his voice.

"Never underestimate that girl, Sir," Harry said with a chuckle. "She is most likely smarter than you suspect, and more observant as well. She had that egg pegged for what it was within seconds, including telling me how to listen to the message it contains."

"Truly?" he asked. "And if I may ask, what did the message say?"

" _Come seek us where our voices sound,_  
 _We cannot sing above the ground,_  
 _And while you're searching ponder this;_  
 _We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_  
 _An hour long you'll have to look,_  
 _And to recover what we took,_  
 _But past an hour, the prospect's black,_  
 _Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

Harry recited from memory. "In Mermish of course, so it could only be-"

"Heard under water!" exclaimed the excited man. "Quite fascinating!" He glanced towards Luna. "Now I understand! Ms. Lovegood's travels with her father! Quite fortuitous for you Mr. Potter!"

Harry nodded. "It was, between that poem and the research that Hermione has gathered about the tournament itself…"

A scowl formed on the Deputy Headmaster's face, as he thought through the ramifications of the poem. "And you believe a hostage will be made of one of your friends?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "My date to the ball to be exact… it makes a kind of twisted sense."

Flitwick's scowl darkened, as he thought. "You may well be correct, Mr. Potter… You said that your decision had been made… You would risk-"

Harry cut him off at that point. "No! Of course not! But as it stands the choice may not be left up to me!" he said, aggravated.

"I have Sirius looking into things," he continued, his teeth clenched as he spoke, "trying to find out if my suspicions are correct. But just in case he suggested that I prepare a backup plan! That led me to my choice!"

Flitwick growled something under his breath. "Possibly a wise thing to do, admittedly… Something I will be speaking with the Headmistress about as well… If I may ask?"

Harry nodded. "Alex… She is the only one that makes any sense, as she is a certified open water diver, like me. I just need to make sure that she has a way to keep her emergency air supply and at least a dive knife with her."

He could see the question forming in the ex-Ravenclaw's head, and went ahead with his explanation. "It's the way muggles travel under the water, canisters of compressed air or other gasses…" He held up the sports bottle. "There is an emergency form about this size, it will last about ten minutes… the knife, well its just a precaution, we're taught to always dive with one."

The half goblin nodded. "I-I would like a demonstration, if you do not mind…"

"I think that can be arranged sir," Harry said, his attention drifting back to the sparring match.

"I will also be speaking with Headmistress McGonagall about your suspicions. I do not like that they may be using students as hostages!" said the small man. "This entire tournament has been a disaster from the start!"

"I couldn't agree more!" growled the young man.


	15. Chapter 15

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 15**

Harry walked down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room, still stretching.

"Well you look better," said Alex as she picked up her book bag and moved to stand next to Hermione.

"Feel better too," he said with a small smile. "Did you do alright this morning?" he asked the bushy haired witch.

"There wasn't a problem," she said. "I led them through the basic routine… Stretching, a good run and work out… they think you both were feeling under the weather and took a morning off to rest."

Harry nodded. "Good. How did the twins do on their first day?"

She chuckled. "Lee Jordan insisted on joining them, so the chasers showed up as well…"

His eyes widened. "Really? Angelina, Alicia, and Katie showed up too?"

Hermione nodded. "They decided that if the twins were going to do it…"

"Then they were going to as well," Harry finished. "Well good on them, I say. It will serve them well, if they stick it out… how are they feeling now?"

Hermione chuckled. "They think we're all nuts, and that Oliver Wood went easy on them."

"And the twins?" he asked as they headed out of the portrait portal.

"They stopped complaining just after the second lap around the lake," she said. "I think they had run out of breath to speak by then… Really they are all in better shape than any of us were when we began, they made it through the majority of our morning workout. I was surprised."

He nodded. "Good, I want to have them well into their training by spring… They may never be in Operations, but they do need to know the basics, just in case."

Hermione nodded. "Is that going to be true of Luna and myself as well?" she asked.

He stopped walking and took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh. "I-I-" he began. "I didn't want to-"

"Harry," Hermione said cutting him off. "I want to do this… need to do this," she said.

He took another deep breath. "We made an exception for the twins… They are very close to their majority, but we needed their help desperately… More than you even know…" he said, quietly.

He paused, trying to figure out what he was going to say. "Look, I'll begin your training, off the books, but I want you to think about this. Think about the future and what you want, over the next couple of years, till your majority. Then if you want a spot in the Unspeakables I'll put in a good word for you."

She studied his face for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright Harry, I'll wait, but I want that training."

He nodded. "Fine, we'll start on that after your events in the tournament are over."

She looked at him surprised. "And how did you know that I had signed up for some of the events?"

"Oh, I have my ways," he said with a lopsided grin. "Besides how could Hermione Granger pass up being on a debate team with Daphne, Padma and Su Li? Let alone entering the Runes Riddle competition… though I must say I think Luna may well have you beat in that… as she writes the ones that go in the Quibbler."

Hermione's mouth fell open at that. "Really?" she asked, her voice coming out in a squeak. "Some of those are almost impossible!" She began chewing on her lower lip. "I'd better spend some more time in the library…" she said as he began walking again.

Tonks shook her head. "You'd better stop her," she said as the girl in question walked away. "That's the way to the library, and she hasn't had breakfast yet."

* * *

Croaker looked at the page again, studying the parchment paper with a practiced eye, just as he had done the writing before.

"The parchment paper is of a fine make… It has a high content of some form of reed pulp… Papyrus I believe… Hmmm… I'd say most likely Egypt," he said setting the page aside. "That agrees with the ink as well, the pigment is most definitely Egyptian, or that area, in origin."

"And the schools, other than Hogwarts and the other two from the tournament, have you heard of them?" James asked.

"Of course!" he said. "Each of them is quite famous in their own right…"

"Do you have any idea where these pages may have come from?" James asked.

Croaker sighed. "From what I can discern they were made with the use of a 'Gemino' class of spell… a copy spell if you would," he explained, seeing James's confusion. "The most standard version of the spell creates a temporary copy, one that lasts… oh, a day or two at the most, before it dissipates."

"However this was the 'scribe' version of the spell," he continued, tapping the page with his wand, then an inkwell on the table, followed by him weaving an intricate pattern with his wand then tapping the parchment to be copied, then a blank sheet of parchment.

A trail of ink flowed from the well and hovered over the original as words formed then moved to settle on the empty page.

"This version makes a permanent copy, by manipulating actual materials rather than conjured," he said as the process finished.

"Right," James said nodding. "The magical version of a copy machine then…" He sat back in the chair. "And who would know something about these schools?"

"Griselda Marchbanks," he replied. "She would have the most recent information available to her."

"Could you find out if the information these pages show is the same as what she has? And where her information about these schools comes from? And how recent it is?" James asked.

"That shouldn't be an issue…" Croaker said. "James if I could ask…?"

James sighed. "A colleague was asked to carry them… Where they came from, I don't know, not entirely, but someone thought it was worth killing almost three hundred people to keep it away from the recipients' hands."

"Oh My!" Croaker said looking again at the stack of papers as if it were some form of poisonous snake. "That's horrible!"

"It is," James said, standing and gathering the originals. "The question is why is this particular information so important?"

* * *

Felix Leiter thought himself a patient man, dealing with bureaucracy for thirty years can do that for a man. However in the last twenty-four hours his patience had been pushed well beyond any rational man's ability to deal with a situation.

First a plane on which one of his daughter's alternate identities had been listed on the flight list, was destroyed on approach to Dulles. And due to the lockdown on government communications, a standard response to a terrorist attack due to security, not to mention the off the books mission she was on, he had been unable to verify with his local connections, if she had actually been aboard.

Then due to the same lockout he was not in a position to reach any of his contacts outside of the immediate vicinity through his back channels without them being compromised, something that could be detrimental to all parties involved.

So he had been forced to sit through the lockdown period, as if nothing had happened.

Once he had been free he had made two phone calls, and made his way to the airport.

The first call was to James, to see if his daughter had been in contact. Luckily, there had been a message for him, left with Bill Tanner, that while he had been surprised by her visit, she had arrived safe and sound and was going to enjoy a few days at a hostel relaxing and possibly some shopping, and she would call in a few days.

The message went on to say that he was still looking for the copper lamp that Felix had asked about, and if he could find one he would send it on.

 _Translation:_ Your daughter is here, the situation is hostile and she is being kept in a safe location. The package for Copper is in my possession, and I am looking into it, suggest you do the same. I'll bring Cedar home personally, when I know more.

That had calmed him, somewhat, as he made arrangements to fly to Miami.

However that new sense of calm didn't last, as he had begun to mull things over during the flight. What had been so damn important that someone had brought down a passenger plane?

He stomped up the corridor, and slammed open the door. "What the hell was in that package Copper?" he growled.

Jason Copper looked up from his desk, a slightly confused look on his face. "Felix? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be tied up in Washington with what's happening."

"I was!" the man said, slamming the door behind him. "Seal it, with that silence thing!" He pointed at the door.

The still confused man slid his wand from his forearm holster, and waved it towards the door. "Done… Felix what's going on?"

The man loomed over Jason's desk, his eyes dark and angry. "You asked me for some help, a package you needed picked up."

Jason nodded. "Just some paperwork…"

Felix slammed his prosthetic hand on the table, denting the surface. "Bullshit!" the man yelled. "It was more than 'Just Paperwork'! That fucking plane that went down in Washington was supposed to have your package on it! _**IN MY DAUGHTER'S HANDS!**_ I want to know what the hell is going on, and there won't be any more Bullshit! You got it?"

The man behind the desk looked back, eyes widened. "-on that plane-" he said softly. "But…" he began then stopped. "All those people…"

Jason pushed away from the desk and stood, and began to pace. "I-I don't understand… Our information didn't say…"

He stopped and turned to Felix. "I don't know what to say… This… this isn't what we expected,." he said.

"And just what did you expect?" asked Felix.

The man shrugged. "Not much really," Jason said, and took a deep breath.

"We've recently made some headway into the magical underground, thanks to James's friend; she's helping train my people," Jason began.

Felix nodded, that was part of the deal they had made with Anya Amasova (the so called agent XXX, recently of the Russian Secret Service).

"One of our agents has made his way into their organization, not far but some, and he heard one of their higher ups talking about a list being sold, one that that they were deciding if they wished to purchase it." Jason said, as he continued to pace.

"It was a computer sale," he continued. "We put in our bid, and made payment… The problem was we didn't have anyone sufficiently trained to retrieve the package… We had no idea that… I'm sorry Felix," the man said.

Felix took a deep breath, and took a moment to think the situation through. "It did sound routine…" he said softly. "What was the information?"

"A list of the top magical schools around the world." the man replied.


	16. Chapter 16

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 16**

James slid the folder across the table towards M. "Croaker got me that list, it matches the information that Cedar had. He went in to the office of the Marchbanks woman last night. He said it was part of the information sent out to ICW members about the state of magical education."

She picked up the second folder and compared the two listings, looking each page over quickly. "And is this information accurate?"

"No ma'am," James said. "There are several of those schools that no longer exist, all of which are those belonging to countries outside the jurisdiction of the ICW."

M grunted in understanding as she looked over the pages again. "So, accurate for those within the ICW but not for those outside…" She placed the folders back on the table. "Recommendations?"

"Put 008 on the trail starting in Rome, to have a quiet look around, and I'll take Cedar home and speak with Copper at Arcane Investigations. After that we'll see what we find when we compare notes."

M raised her eyebrow. "You're taking Cedar home? Is that the best use of your time?"

James nodded. "In this case yes. Someone 'in the know' needs to watch her back and be able to arrange her entry into the US unobserved."

M chuckled. "In other words you promised Leiter, and you don't trust her safety to any one else but you."

"There is that," James admitted.

M nodded. "I agree, I want 008 on the next possible flight, and you on your way as soon as you can finish your arrangements… James how is Harry coping?"

"Better with the addition of the twins," James said sitting back in the chair. "It was just too much for the pair of them… is the team ready for deployment on the next Hogsmead day?"

"We believe so." M replied. "If all goes to plan."

James nodded. "Harry's plans are underway as well," he said. "He is planning to be in the village most of the afternoon, along with Alex, and will spell the sniper team in the Shrieking Shack no later than 1300 and allow them to reposition against the afternoon sun."

She nodded. "Very well. One of Mr. Gold's people will also be on hand along with the new Hogsmead map. They wish to test it with the large group of unknowns that will be coming and going within the village on the next weekend, to see if the construction is flexible enough to include the visitors."

"Well, the small scale ones used for Gringotts and Hogwarts are working," he replied. "If this works they can begin constructing them for the alley."

"Downing Street, and a few other places will come before that either way," she said.

"I thought Downing Street's was finished," James said.

"It was, but our team found a few holes that could be exploited," she admitted. "They are being addressed as we speak but the map will need to be redone after the warding is complete."

"Have we had any luck securing transport for the Prime Minister?" James asked.

M sighed. "Unfortunately we have run into a few issues with his new vehicle. His plane was not much of a problem, but some of the streets in London make something like the American President's 'Beast' impractical. When he visits he is restricted where he can travel, it's more the weight than the length that is the issue. We are working on it."

James nodded again. There was still so much to do, most of the nuclear arsenal had already been secured, and what hadn't was ship borne and those few that were left offloaded their payload before returning for retrofit as space became available.

The majority of military bases were at the least warded enough to be alerted by portkey, apparition and broom travel. It wasn't perfect yet, but it was improving.

"I'll brief 008, and get her on her way," James said as he stood.

"Right…" M said, leaning forward and gathering the files. "James? Get the girl home safe."

"That is the first priority," he said, opening the inner door. "The second is to keep her away from learning anything about the Second World."

M shuffled the papers on her desk. "I just hope that is possible now, for her sake."

* * *

Patricia walked through the long term parking structure of the Zurich airport looking for a particular parking space number. Spotting the number she surveyed the vehicle Q branch had arranged.

She had to smile; Q knew her all to well. It was a Mercedes C36 AMG in basic black. Power and precision in one tidy package, not to mention the… optional extras added by Q.

As she slid into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking spot she ran through the reasoning she and James had developed that led her to coming here first, rather than Rome.

It had started with a simple question, exactly how did they get on to her in the first place?

James looked at her then broke out into a grin, and they both said, "Follow the money."

That had led her here, the listing as well as the place where payment was to be delivered, by wire transfer, Zurich.

She checked her mirrors and pulled out into traffic.

This is where it started, so it was where she would start.

But that would be tomorrow morning, as it was past the end of the business day. Tonight she had plans, a delicious dinner at Witschi's, then possibly a stroll through 'Sculpture' by Max Bell… Yes that sounded perfect. Then to the hotel.

She would keep her eyes open of course, but she had no reason to believe that anyone would be looking at her yet, though she knew that was just a matter of time.

* * *

Cedar followed James across the tarmac towards the plane. "Are you sure about this Uncle James?"

"Positive Cedar," he said. "I don't think they are looking for you any longer. Besides, with your new hairstyle," cut into a short pageboy and highlighted in red, "and those colored contacts, I don't think even your father would know you."

She snorted. "Yeah right, didn't work in high school won't work now," she said. "How are we getting home?"

James gestured to the jet in front of them. "It's a Learjet 36. We keep running tabs on what jets need to be ferried places, and this one just happens to be headed for Nassau. From there we'll get a ship for Miami… I called in a little favor for that from Willard White. From there it will be easy to get you back into the states unnoticed."

"Wi-" Cedar stumbled on hearing the name. "You know Willard White?"

"Well enough to know that the man has good reason to not want to live in Las Vegas anymore," James said chuckling. "Your dad does too… He still gets a kick out of what White said when his right hand man, Bert Saxby, took a shot at him, and was killed."

"What did he say?" she asked.

James laughed. "I saw who it was and said, 'Saxby!'" James then changed his voice to a bad southern accent. "Bert Saxby? Tell him he's fired!"

Cedar began laughing. It was a good thing to hear, but James knew there was still a long way to go before she could let go of the feeling that she had been responsible for all of those deaths in some way.

"Uncle James? When are you going to tell me what was in the package?" she asked as they began stowing their luggage.

He sighed. "T-that's one of the things I need to talk to your father about." She looked at him, aggravation evident.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Be as angry as you want Cedar, it won't do you any good. This is one of those need to know things, and I can't make that decision for your CIA let alone the government as a whole."

Her eyes widened at that statement. "Look," he said shutting the compartment. "I will tell you this much. The information itself was low priority, and should have in no way generated the response that came of it. However, it does have a slight connection to a high priority set of information. We understand there is a common thread, but not why that thread is that important to someone."

She thought about that as they boarded and James started to go through the pre-flight checklist, with her as co-pilot. "So this is something like low level paperwork, for an important project… a budget or something?"

James shrugged. "Sort of, I guess… Cedar, just don't ask about it right now, ok? I'll talk to your father when we get home, then you can make your case to him if you want."

"So he's the head of this project?" she asked.

James groaned. "Cedar!"

She smirked, and went back to work on the checklist, it was still a nine hour flight to Nassau.

* * *

"Severus, attend me," Albus said as he made his way towards one of the large chairs facing the fire place. "Tell me of the woman."

Severus Snape hurried to kneel at the foot of the now sitting man. "My contacts within the Ministry inform me that she rarely travels without her guard, even within the Ministry itself and that it will at the very least double when she is going to an incident."

"Hmmm… She is being cautious after the situation at the World Cup then?" the older man asked.

Severus shook his head slightly, "No, my Lord. My contacts informed me that these changes were in place before the Cup."

"I see," he replied. "Continue."

"She is to wed Black shortly before the end of the summer, and spends much of her time outside the Ministry in his company."

"Then she is behind the wards of the Ministry, or one of the old families the majority of the time?" he asked.

"She is," Severus replied.

"Then we will need to focus on a different weakness," Albus said. "Severus I want you to find out the list of Hogsmead weekends for Hogwarts. I may wish to meet with the young Ms. Bones."

"As you wish my Lord," the dark haired man said not lifting his head.

"You are dismissed my friend," Albus said waving his hand. "Have our new friend join me for a moment.

"Yes my Lord, Thank you my Lord," Snape said, rushing from the room.

Albus sat in thought for a few moments before the door opened again and a large man stood in the door way.

"You asked to see me?" he said still standing in the shadows.

"Indeed, my dear boy," Albus said. "Have you come to a decision?"

"I want my revenge!" he replied with a growl.

"And you will have it, I assure you." Albus smiled, as he spoke. "But you must have patience, my boy."

"Make your plans," the figure said. "I will do my part." He turned and exited the room.

"I'm sure you will my boy, I'm sure you will," Albus said, chuckling.


	17. Chapter 17

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 17**

It was just past four in the morning when a pair of shadows stepped off the small speedboat and into the surf in about knee deep water. With practiced ease they caught the bow of the boat bringing it to a halt in shallow water, and allowing two other figures to step off in a more graceful manner without getting much more than the larger figure's pant cuffs wet.

Shoving the boat back out and scrambling aboard, they were beyond the low breakers before the remaining pair had made it to the sand line and onto the wooden walkway.

"Good to be home Cedar?" James asked.

The younger woman scowled at him as they walked. "Oh, yeah! I'm just dandy!" she said. "We've spent the last two days holed up in a _staff cabin_ on one of the most beautiful ships at sea, and you hardly say a word other than _No_ … _No_ shows, _No_ nice dining, _No_ dancing and worst of all, _No_ alcohol! And now you want to strike up a conversation? Just get me the rest of the way home _Uncle_ James!" she snapped.

James grabbed her by the arm and spun her towards him. "Now listen here, little missy!" he growled. "This was not some kind of vacation! This was a _mission_! One where your life was on the line!" he continued, finger poking her.

She looked away from him and leaned against the pathway's railing, taking a deep breath. "You think I don't know that?" she said sadly. "Those people paid for my mistake…" Her voice broke - "and I may never know why… I just wanted something, anything, to distract me!"

He turned her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. "Cedar, what happened wasn't your fault."

She nodded against his chest. "I know that here," She pointed at her head, "but… I still feel responsible."

James sighed. "You had no more reason to believe something like that could happen than we did… Trust me, for the information you were carrying, it didn't warrant that type of response."

"But you still won't tell me…"

" _Cedar_!" he said sternly. "That is not my decision to make." He watched over her shoulder as the lights flashed in a coded sequence from a car in the parking lot. "Our ride is here, we need to go."

She took a deep breath, sighed and wiped her eyes, taking a moment to look out at the pre-dawn sky over the water. "Yeah, alright."

* * *

Patricia huffed and blew a stray hair out of her eyes, as she worked her way down the air shaft.

Three days… THREE bloody days! It had taken her three bloody days to case the bank!

It was a bank for Christ's sake! What in the world were they doing with this level of security? She groused, fishing in her pocket for her miniature tool kit.

Laying the now open roll out in front of her, she withdrew several pieces and went to work on the metal to her right, about halfway up.

Soon she removed a six by six inch piece from the wall exposing the wiring beyond.

She looked at the wires disgusted with what she saw, as all of the cables she wanted were running through an armored conduit that hadn't been in the plans.

"Well that's unexpected…" she muttered under her breath, shifting again to look at her tool roll.

Withdrawing a small pen knife, she smiled as she turned back to the conduit and scraped the blade along the pipe.

A thin sliver of metal curled away.

"I don't know where you got it James, but this thing is proving damn useful." she said quietly as she peeled another small ribbon away with the magical goblin made knife.

Soon she had removed a six inch section of conduit and went to work on the wires within.

Once she was satisfied with her connections, she took a small device, placed it in the hole next to the conduit and stuck it in place, then replaced the piece of duct work, taping it in place with aluminum backed duct tape.

"That will fool a cursory inspection…" she mumbled, and made her way back up the air return.

* * *

Patricia frowned at the stack of paperwork she had liberated after her long evening. "This doesn't make any sense!" she said, smacking the stack down on the table.

She drifted over to the bar and poured herself a drink, then ran the now cooling glass across her forehead looking for some minor relief for her brewing headache.

The files had been the right ones, of that she was certain.

She sipped the harsh liquid from the glass, she could make sense of the entries coming and going through the bank, be it in francs, marks, pounds, or dollars, but there was only one odd routing number at the end of this particular trail.

She sat down on the couch again and went through the pages, looking for a transfer of matching funds outbound or to an account for the seller under a different routing number.

"It's no longer in their system… and it is marked disbursed…" she said to the empty room.

She picked up the pages again and flipped to the commodities purchased page, where she found an equal amount, under a separate number, purchasing gold.

"So… it's still there… Liquid… just over 700 thousand pounds in gold…" She flipped through the pages till she found the entry for the account. "Just who are you Mr. Esposito and why haven't you retrieved your purchase… and what were you doing with that list… and why did someone else want it so badly…" She twirled the glass in her fingers, pondering her next move.

* * *

Harry bobbed to the surface of the small pool, though Professor Flitwick had called it a bath, and pulled the mouth piece of the small yellow bottle out of his mouth.

"Very well Mr. Potter," Flitwick said. "I understand… and you say that device will let the user breathe for about ten minutes?"

"Yes sir," he replied, placing it at the diminutive man's feet and pushing himself up to sit on the edge of the pool. "It can, however it could be less if they are anxious and hyperventilating.

"You say it takes training however?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Mostly not to panic, and a little to not try and breathe through your nose…" Harry thought for a moment. "There is a breathing apparatus that covers the entire face, and if we hooked it to the larger version of these bottles, it could last over an hour… Did you learn any more about the task sir?"

Flitwick sighed. "Not that I could tell you, I'm afraid… Would these headgear need some form of training?"

Harry nodded. "Some… they still need to not panic and try to remove them."

Flitwick pondered that a moment. "I believe I could charm them to stay in place… and we could administer a calming draft… yes that may work. I shall speak with the Headmistress and see what can be done." The man helped Harry stand. "Again I find my self thanking you for your help, do have fun in Hogsmeade tomorrow."

He turned to leave the prefects' bathroom, to let Harry change. "Oh, yes!" He paused at the door. "The Headmistress wished me to ask if you were certain about your choice of a date for the Yule Ball? She is about to do the announcement information, for the press release on the presentation of the Champions."

Harry sighed. "I am, Alex will be accompanying me."

"Very well Mr. Potter. She just wished to be sure her information was correct. I bid you good night."

"Goodnight, Sir," Harry said as the door shut.

Harry sat back down on the edge of the pool, as a rustle of fabric came from the corner and Alex appeared from under his invisibility cloak.

"At least that's better than nothing," she said, sitting next to him and dangling her feet in the water.

He nodded. "True," he said, lying back on the floor. "Everything ready for tomorrow?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, we both have fittings first thing in the morning, just as the shop opens, so we need to be done with brekkers no later than eight, and on our way to the carriages.

Harry nodded as she continued. "Both our duffels are hidden in the Shrieking Shack, checked and loaded."

"Good," he said stretching. "Let's get some rest, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow."

* * *

Mathers adjusted his rifle and sighted on the door to the sweet shop. "Candy, Range… 450 yards, that will be lane five… that's it. We can cover just about everything from here to the station with those," he said, making another note in a small book.

Sounders nodded and made the same note in his. "I've got your list of wind indicators here," he said, passing him a sheet.

Mathers groused as he filled them in, checking the description of each one. "Alright, these look good," he said, closing the book. "Damn babysitting… I can't believe that we are being tasked here, to watch a bunch of kids shop!"

Sounders chuckled. "Don't let Granger hear you, one of those kids is his niece."

Mathers looked at him briefly. "Really? Huh… go figure…"

"Not only is that true," Sounders replied, "but there are several high priority individuals and targets within those school walls on any given day, and they will all be coming to Hogsmeade in the morning, for one thing or another."

Mathers checked his scope again. "I still say it's a crap job. When are the others getting here?"

"Soon," his partner said, checking his watch. "They are using that old cave a klick north of here as an arrival point."

"Roger that," he said, settling in to watch the street below while waiting for the rest of their team to arrive.

* * *

James dropped the folder on the table. "There's your file."

Jason Copper sat forward and spun the folder towards himself, as James sat in one of the uncomfortable metal office chairs and briefly exchanged pleasantries with Felix.

"She's at the safe house until you have someone debrief her and decide what to do," he heard James tell the man as he finished flipping through the pages for the first time.

"And what do you think?" Felix asked.

James shrugged. "I think she needs to be read in…" he said. Felix frowned. "Look, I know how you feel, trust me, I don't want her involved any more than you do, but she knows that that plane explosion has something to do with that list," he said, pointing at the desk. "And you know her better than me, will she be able to let it go?"

The one armed man looked disgusted. "No… alright James, I get your point… I'll… I'll think about it."

Copper eyed both men. "You've looked at this then, Felix?" The man tapped the file.

"I did," he admitted.

"And what are both of your thoughts?" he asked.

Felix shrugged. "You've been thinking about it longer, I've got a guess or two but…"

James nodded. "I think they are being sold as a list of targets."


	18. Chapter 18

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 18**

Alex stepped down from the fitting riser. "Okay, that's it Harry." She sighed. "We can go tell the tailor my colors now, do our shopping and grab something to eat."

When he didn't answer she huffed out a puff of air. "If he left while we were…" She paused after opening the curtain and seeing the young man in question start awake.

"Hm? What? Oh! You're done?" he asked.

"I thought we were ' _working'_ today?" she asked with a snide tone. "What would your father say if he found you asleep like this?"

Harry yawned as he stood. "That it was bloody warm in here, that chair is entirely too comfortable, and waiting for a woman to pick a dress, when you can't watch, is boring as hell!"

She chuckled. "True… Anyway I'm done." She looked towards the front of the store. "Hermione must have the next appointment… she and the Patil twins are on their way down the street."

Stretching, Harry pondered out loud. "She said she was going… I wonder who asked her?" He looked at Alex. "You know don't you?" he asked.

Alex sighed. "Yes, I do. But she wants it to be a surprise…"

Harry nodded. "That's fine, is it anyone we need to keep an eye on?"

"…Possibly… Look, we've already arranged for someone to be watching the map down in the chamber. We'll be watching several people we'll just make sure they're on the list."

"What about the twins?" he said gesturing to the pair with Hermione. "Did anyone ask them?"

Alex looked sad. "No… not yet at any rate, but they're determined to go no matter what, so they are being fitted for the dresses their mother sent…" She turned to face Harry. "If they don't have an escort I want you to be sure to dance with both of them… at least twice during the night. This is gong to be their first ball… they need a handsome bloke to spin them around the floor."

Harry nodded. "Yeah… I'll try and talk to a couple of our dorm mates… Well not Ron, no one deserves to sit across from him while he eats."

Alex snorted. "It's bad enough that we have to watch him eat in the Great Hall, could you imagine that at your table during an event like a ball?"

Harry sighed. "Oh, you can bet that he will be there at some poor soul's table… Not to be mean, he's a nice enough bloke, but how in the hell did someone with those manners end up coming from the same family that produced Gin, or the Carrots? They don't eat like that!"

Alex nodded. "I met Molly, their mother, a couple of times… I ran around with Charley her second son a bit at school," she said as they headed for the door. "She's… she's got the best of motivations, and is a nice woman, but a touch… overbearing… and has definite ideas as to how her children's life will go… And Ron is her _baby_ boy."

It was Harry's turn to snort. "With a thirty foot tapeworm!"

Alex laughed. "He does seem like a bottomless pit doesn't he?" she said, walking outside.

"Talking about Ron?" Hermione asked, all of them pausing.

Harry's brow creased. "How did-?"

She brushed his question aside with a snort of her own. "We just sat through breakfast sitting across from Ron 'Open Maw' Weasley." All three girls shuddered. "I had to go upstairs and change my jumper after he laughed, with a full mouth, at something Justin said. DISGUSTING!"

Harry and Alex's lips twitched upwards, it was Harry that spoke. "I, on behalf of men everywhere, apologize."

Hermione sighed. "That wasn't the worst part, he didn't even seem to notice… he just went on eating like nothing happened."

"What a putz," Alex said. Changing the subject she continued, "Actually we got sidetracked, we were talking about your dates."

Hermione blushed, and the twins glanced at each other. "We don't have one," they said in perfect unison with an identical one shoulder shrug.

Hermione glanced around nervously. "I- I was surprised someone asked me-"

"Hermione!" Harry said in a quietly scolding tone. "Why would you, of all people, be surprised at that? You are a wonderful person as beautiful inside as out, an amazing friend, and incredibly intelligent. Any bloke would be lucky to have you on his arm at the ball."

She looked him directly in his eyes for a moment, as if searching them, then nodded slowly. "I was just surprised that's all…" she said softly.

Harry directed the conversation away from his blushing friend. "As for the pair of you, no one asked you?" he asked.

They shrugged in tandem again, but Padma answered, "We are going with some of the other girls, as a group… Neville is going with Tracy… she won the coin toss with Hannah."

Harry's eyes went wide. "Coin toss?" he said, confused.

"Yeah, coin toss," she said with a sigh. "Those two almost came to blows over who was going to go with him…"

Parvati took over from that point. "Harry there just aren't enough boys to go around in our year… especially as all of the ones still free in Slytherin are completely unacceptable." She shuddered thinking of Crabbe and Goyle. "And we were expected to forgo dates as we have 'betrothals' arranged… even though they are open, thank you again for that."

Harry nodded; as he thought about it there was a disparity. "Well, I want you both to save a dance for me… you as well Hermione," he said with a smile. "We've got to run, I need to give my tailor the color to match Alex's dress," he said as they set off down the street, waving, as the others entered the store.

* * *

"Targets?" Copper asked as he flipped through the pages again. "Targets for what?"

"Targets. Someone wants those places destroyed," James confirmed.

Copper scoffed. "Several of these don't even exist any more! Ilvermorny, Mahoutokoro, were both destroyed during war time and Koldovstoretz was lost to Lenin. Those three I can personally verify no longer exist, I've been to each site."

"Uagadou," he continued, "the school in Uganda… the building is still there, but because of the ongoing problems in the region it closed almost seventy years ago… Uluru, in Australia, is still there, and quite nice from what I have heard…"

"Tianjin, in China…" he continued. "It was reformed and moved, it is now a closely guarded state secret… we never got a straight answer as to why…"

"Rajastan… Is still the primary school for India… though it is no longer the premier one …" he said. "As is Catelobruxo, in Brazil… Though it still holds its premier status…"

James nodded. "That is what I suspected… but I think that this information was stolen not for the information you focused on, as the majority of that is wrong or false, but rather the schools overseen by the ICW, International Confederation of Wizards."

Copper looked at those pages. "So Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?"

James nodded. "For each one of them the figures are accurate, but they would also be of more interest during this particular year, as the Tri-Wizard cup is being held."

Copper looked up from the paperwork. "Tri-Wizard Cup?"

"A year long, inter school competition between those three 'premier' schools. In fact Beauxbatons and Durmstrang currently have almost half of their current students and faculty at Hogwarts as we speak."

Copper sat back in his office chair, swiveling softly from side to side as he was lost in thought. "You think this is a preface to an attack then?" he asked after a time.

"I'm betting on it, yes. I already have Pat looking into things from the other end, while I start here," he said as he stood and went to the world map on the wall.

He tapped the places two of the schools would be located on the map. "They're at half strength, at the most, and full of children. Their focus divided between their own campus and in support of their students at Hogwarts… Easy prey. Destroy both of these schools and repercussions are going to be dire, angry powerful families raging against their leaders and the remaining faculties… especially as many of these governments are still some version of a feudal society… it could mean lost heirs as well…"

He paused, tapping Hogwarts. "Then again the same could be said of Hogwarts… It's almost a target too good to pass up, at the moment… Harry's class alone holds several British heirs… and with the upper years from the other schools all in one place…" he said with a shrug, "it would be difficult to choose which one to hit… It would be a question of firepower and men."

Copper nodded. "I'll have these numbers run against what we have on the still remaining schools… though China and Russia will be an issue; due to their security we don't know that much about their situation."

James nodded. "Good, while my gut is telling me this is the play, it won't hurt to look elsewhere."

* * *

Harry slipped up the passageway into the Shrieking Shack and had Alex pass him the gear from below, before she followed and settled the trap door back in place.

A quiet voice came from the stairway, as they began unpacking their gear. "Cor, you lot are quiet!" it said, as a man stood from the shadows upstairs, and put away his pistol."

He then stuttered to a stop, "You're-"

Harry gave him a hard look, giving him pause and stopping his talking. Sounders soon recovered. "And what do you want for Christmas?"

Harry sighed. 'I hate these code phrases,' he thought. 'I think Moneypenny does this on purpose!' "My two front teeth," he said quietly.

"Should have taken better care of them then," the man said in reply.

"Rogue bludger…" Harry said looking up at the man and smiled, showing his perfect front teeth. "What gave us away?"

"Nothing you two did," he said, standing and moving toward them, his hand out. "Byron Sounders, call sign Victor nine." He stepped past them and picked up a small piece of wood, about one inch high and four across. "It's something Mr. Q had made up for us. There are six of them here, he calls them tremblers, they can feel the vibrations. Too much and they set off an alarm we carry. We brought two sets and we'll leave this one with you when we move."

Harry nodded as he shook the man's hand, "Good, useful that. Call me Strider, and her Glenda, no names on a mission Nine," he said. "Ten upstairs?"

Sounders nodded. "I need to get back too. Get your gear straight and change, we'll stay on station till you're settled then head towards our other location."

"We'll be ready for com check in ten," Harry said, checking his tactical rig.

"Roger that," Sounders said, heading back up the stairs. "See you in ten. It was nice to meet you Strider."

Once they were dressed, Harry started his radio check. "Strider to one, test."

"One to Strider, confirmed," said a voice in Harry's ear.

"Glenda to one, test," Alex said.

"One to Glenda, confirmed," said the voice again.

The pair then went up the stairs. "Give us a rundown." Harry said.

Sounders sat up from his spotter's scope. "Which one of you is going to be spotter?"

Harry chuckled. "We're both shooters, give us your ranges and sight blocks."

Mathers looked back over his shoulder. "That's against regs, it's one spotter one-" he began.

"Yours maybe," Harry said, cutting him off. "Not ours, our training is different."

"But you're both kids!" he said, uncertainly.

"Mathers! Shut it!" hissed Sounders. "He's Har-"

"Dam it Nine!" growled Harry. "I told you! No names! I don't care what the reason is! Ten, move your ass, and leave the notes! We'll figure it out! Now move!"

Grumbling, the man moved out of the way and watched as Harry ran his finger down the page of notes and peered out of the window occasionally. Then set his rifle with practiced ease, sliding behind it.

"You'd better go," said Alex. "We've all got jobs to do. We'd best get to them."


	19. Chapter 19

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 19**

Patricia lowered the monocular and jotted down a note in the small spiral bound notebook she had picked up in a small store not far from her hotel; she then went back to scanning the building at the end of the block.

It didn't look like much, just a small tenant building, holding six small one bedroom apartments, overlooking a narrow cobblestone street. One like millions of others scattered throughout the city of Rome. However this particular building had a tenant she was most keen on learning more about, a Mr. Esposito… 'No,' she reminded herself that was her assumption upon seeing the name M. Esposito in the log entry. 'It was Miss, not Mister.' Ms. Marietta Esposito. The address entry in the log had led to a woman whose body had been found in the Tiber River the afternoon of Patricia's arrival in Rome.

She watched, impatient, as the local bobbies did their duty, knowing all the while it was doing nothing but making more work for her, as she now had two targets instead of one. 'The apartment first,' she thought, 'then I go see what the police have.'

She sighed as the final seal on the apartment door was placed and the blue caped man made his way to his vehicle and drove away.

"No time like the present," she decided, placing the monocular back in the padded compartment in the center console and snapping it shut. "The quicker this is done the better."

Stepping into the room she pushed the door back closed, an easy smile still on her lips. 'Easy enough,' she thought as she began looking around. "Bathroom first I think," she said to an empty room.

Shortly, after rummaging through both the bathroom and bedroom, she returned to the small front room, a frown having replaced her smile.

"Odd…" she said quietly. "Few pictures… None showing family… Only a couple of keepsakes…" She looked at the small kitchen and moved towards it, opening each cabinet in turn. "Plates… glasses…." She moved on to the tiny refrigerator, only to shut it when it proved to be almost barren. "Minimal fresh food…" She moved to the trash. "Empty… Police may have taken it…"

She turned and looked over the sitting room. The furniture was well used, but in good shape… she moved to the couch and sat, her frown deepening again. "No telly… no magazines or books…" She clicked on the radio that was sitting on the table beside her and the room filled with soft music.

Sitting back and crossing her legs, she looked around again. "Again nothing too personal… and the room…" She turned towards the window, looking down over the cobblestone street below and down the block.

Was this the way she would arrange the furniture here if it were her?

No… no she wouldn't. It was all arranged _away_ from the window… As if no thought had been given to _how_ it would need to be arranged to make use of the space effectively, or even the cool air drifting in from the evening outside.

There was no way anyone that lived here would leave it like this for long… Therefore it was likely she had not lived here long.

"Okay… I haven't lived in the building long…" She paused, "No… That doesn't feel right… I don't believe our Ms. Esposito lived here at all," she said as she stood.

"Yes… I believe that is more likely," she said to herself, looking over the room in a new light. "A rendezvous?" She pondered, thinking about the location within the city and the possibility this had been some form of 'love nest'.

She walked back to the small kitchen and looked over the small three burner stove. "No… I think not… this has been used fairly recently… and for more than just tea," she muttered as she checked each burner in turn. "If it was a rendezvous they would most likely eat out before arriving…"

She moved back to the bedroom, and studied the bed more intently. "Some wear… but almost new… The frame is old however… hmmm." She moved to the closet and a smile blossomed on her face again as she went through the clothing. It was a complete wardrobe… at first glance, but if one knew what to look for it told an entirely different story.

She wandered back into the bathroom. "Where would I hide something I don't wish to be found in a home I was using during a 'honey trap'…" she pondered as she went through the room more thoroughly.

She chuckled to herself. 'Honey trap', the term was most apt. It was a trap baited with one of the most tried and true of methods… sex. Ms. Esposito was one of three things, a conman, a thief, or a spy, not that they were that different.

So she had lured someone here, gained their confidence, and used them to obtain the information she then sold, been caught at some point after the drop, and eliminated.

'That sounds about right,' she thought as she tapped around on the walls and under the sink. Nothing…

She stood and stepped back into the tiny hall, and looked around again. 'It would be someplace easy to get to, easy to hide,' she thought, 'central…'

Her smile returned as she got on her hands and knees and pulled at the baseboard near the end, next to the kitchen. It pulled away easily, to reveal a small plastic wrapped package.

"I do believe we have a winner!" she said, picking it up.

* * *

Harry sighed as he listened to the sniper team make their way downstairs. "Damn it…" he said softly.

Alex glanced at him, but looked back to her task quickly. "It's alright Strider, he just doesn't know you."

Harry nodded, not that she could see it, and settled his sightline on the train station on the far end of the village. "Yeah… well… it's just…"

She smiled softly as she shifted, looking at the horrible pink wallpaper of Madam Puddlefoot's for a moment before moving on. "He looks at us and sees two school kids?"

Harry sighed again, "Yeah."

"Harry, to most of the world that is precisely what we are," she said simply. "You're still a fourth year at Hogwarts, and in muggle schools… And I still look like I'm still that age. He doesn't know how hard you work, or what you've accomplished. And you say you would react differently if all you had looked at was the briefing file they were given?"

"You're right," he said, moving his view to the joke shop. "I'd have trouble with it too."

"Right." She keyed her ear piece, "Glenda to one, Nine and Ten on the move ETA … twenty five minutes."

"Roger that," an unseen voice replied.

* * *

Hannah Abbott had been best friends with Susan Bones… well, as long as she could remember. According to her mother, they had even spent much of their time as toddlers sharing the same crib or play pen.

'Why?' some may ask?

Because her parents, as well as Susan's had been the best of friends when they attended Hogwarts, even if they had been scattered through three years in the Hufflepuff dorm.

After Susan's parents had been murdered by Deatheaters, Susan's Aunt Amelia had taken her in. According to Hannah's mother, it had been hard on the woman, for she had lost a lot in a very short amount of time. Her brother and sister-in-law, then Lily and James who helped her settle in and learn how to deal with a new baby, her betrothed, and finally she had watched as Sirius Black, probably the love of her life despite what had happened between them, be sent to Azkaban for murder

After that Amelia had thrown herself into the two things she had left, her career and Susan. Thankfully Hannah's parents had been there to help, as Amelia had to spend many hours away from home due to the Aurors being short handed after the war.

Once they were older and things had begun to settle, they had spent much of their time together at one house or the other. They had become more than just friends, they were more like sisters in many respects.

"What do you think about Harry taking Alex to the ball?" Hannah asked as she twirled in front of the mirror.

Susan shrugged. "I was a bit surprised actually, at least until he explained why. I thought he'd ask Hermione… That one would be good," Susan said, gesturing to the dress "and the color would suit Neville as a highlight."

Hannah twisted again, then nodded. "I think you're right, silver it is then…" she said, stepping down. "Then you haven't been paying much attention, Alex may have lucked into it, but she's had her eye on him since she came to Hogwarts… And he seems pretty chummy with her too."

Susan scoffed. "Name one girl at Hogwarts that hasn't… including Parkinson… I've even caught her staring more than once."

"Me?" Hannah said in a sing song voice. "Neville is more to my liking, I love those shoulders he's growing into…" she said with a thin wicked smile, "Tracy, Morag-"

"Right, okay," Susan said, cutting her off. "Fine. I just…" She huffed out a breath, "I just haven't figured out how to approach him."

Hannah turned to face her friend, her face stunned. "Susan! You spent more time grilling Mr. Draco about being his grandfather when we were helping with the horses than actually riding! And exactly how many letters have you sent him since?" she asked accusingly. "I counted one about every other week!"

Her red headed friend had the good sense to look away and blush, "If Hermione or Alex know more about him than you do I'd be impressed!" She continued, "Come on Suzie! You've got to at least-"

A loud crash came from outside and the girls scrambled towards the curtains to get a look at what was going on. The girls' eyes grew wide as they pulled the privacy curtain open, just enough to see and hear what was going on.

* * *

"Two to all! Contact! Counting six, from the east! Next to the Station!" Harry began to make his adjustment and sweep his field of view towards his targets. "Four from the South East! Just past Dervish and Bangs!"

"Six, to One! Spellfire confirmed! Hog's Head is on fire!"

Alex adjusted her line of sight, grousing under her breath. "Glenda to One, no line of site to secondary! Moving to primary."

"Roger, Glenda. One to all, move to the Southeast, Weapons free! Spellfire preferred! Watch your field of fire, there are civilians here." said the voice over the open com channel. "Take them down!"

Almost in unison the two silenced sniper rifles fired the first of their lethal projectiles towards the Deatheaters.

* * *

Susan and Hannah watched through the window in a mixture of horror and fascination as two men in Auror robes and dark cloaks stepped out of the shadow near the building on fire, one of them raising a wand as he did so and firing a curse towards the laughing group of Deatheaters.

A blue light sped into the center of the group, then suddenly they were being tossed in different directions as the very ground under their feet exploded upwards. Cries of laughter were suddenly replaced with those of surprise and pain.

Two others appeared from the opposite direction and it was over as quickly as it began, as they moved to secure their prisoners.

Hannah looked at her friend, "Do you know who they are? I can't see their faces because of their cloaks… but they're wearing Auror robes…"

Susan shook her head. "No… I don't… Auntie will know though," she said. "The Ministry must have been expecting trouble… I hope no one was hurt." She watched two of the Aurors move to help contain the fire.

A voice from behind them startled them from their observation. "Ms. Bones, Ms. Abbott. I'm glad you are both okay," it said.

"Senior Auror Scrimgeour!" Susan said in surprise. "You startled me!"

"I was sent to find you Ms. Bones, your aunt wished to be sure you're okay. I'll escort you to her," he said with a smile.


	20. Chapter 20

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 _ **Sorry for the for the delay in chapters, technical issues prevented earlier posting.**_

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 20**

"Auntie sent you for me?" Susan asked.

"She did Ms. Bones, now if you will come along I'll take you to her. No need for you to see such things," Auror Scrimgeour said, his smile firmly held in place.

Susan glanced at her friend. "Well, I guess…" Her hand struck out like lightning, thre fingers extended, thrusting like a knife, catching the older man in the throat using his Adam's apple as a target, just as Harry had taught them. "RUN HANNAH!"

The pair of teens immediately ran for the front door of the store, as Scrimgeour tried to draw in a breath.

They had almost reached the door when he finally croaked, " _COLLOPORTUS,_ " and the door locked with a wet sounding 'scweltch'.

"Stupid little bint…" he gasped, trying to gather in more air. "I'll make sure you pay for that, just like your bitch of a aunt!" he said, sending a bright yellow spell towards them.

Both of the girls dove towards the floor, as the spell splashed over the wall where they had been standing.

"What is going on? Why is an Auror attacking us?" Hannah screamed.

"I don't know!" Sue yelled back as they scurried behind one of the counters, as an orange spell hit not far behind them. "But he isn't one of our normal guards and he didn't give me the emergency safety password!"

"What are we going to do?" Hannah cried. "He locked the doors with that spell!"

"We try for the window!" Sue replied. "Cast anything that causes sparks, light and sound. We need to get the attention of those people outside!"

Hannah wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded; her best friend needed her now. "Right."

* * *

"Nine to One! Spellfire!" the voice said over Harry's earpiece as he watched the last of their targets fall. "Gladrags! Inside, we can see the flashes through the window! No shot!"

"Two to One. Showing four bodies inside… one of them is Susan Bones! I don't know what's going on in there, but they look like they are under attack from Rufus Scrimgeour! The shop owner is hiding in the store room!"

Two of the figures turned away from trying to contain the fire and looked towards the building in question down the street. "Eight to One, Spellfire confirmed! Moving to investigate. Keep the wards active!"

"Roger that. You and Seven handle it," said a voice from their earpieces. "Be advised, that Scrimgeour is a full trained Auror, at this point consider him hostile."

"Copy One." The two broke into a run down the road.

"Five and Six," said the voice of One. "Cleanup, you're going to clear the station, you're the closest. Strider, Glenda, Nine and Ten, keep your eyes peeled for any other targets. Everyone else get that fire under control! We want this done so we can drop the port-key and apparition wards before the first dispatches are sent from the Ministry!"

* * *

Bill skidded to a halt just outside the building's doorway. Pushing on it he growled, "Spell sealed… going to need to break it! Fastest way will be to blow it!" he said to his partner who nodded.

"Do it!" he said, even as Bill's hand moved to a pocket inside his cloak.

Slapping a small shaped charge on the door handle, and two more on the hinges, he said, "That will do it," pulling a thin pencil like device out of his pocket. "Two, where are they?"

"He's got them separated! The Bones girl is running through the store room! He's in pursuit!"

"Blowing the door!" Bill yelled, as he looked away and shielded himself with his cloak.

With a loud bang, the door separated from the building shattering the spell.

Trevor Lawson, Bill's partner, was on the move the moment the door separated from the wall, Bill hot on his heels, the pair 'splitting the pie' with their MP5's just as they had been trained.

Moving forward they came to the body of a girl sprawled out on the floor. Trevor knelt and felt for a pulse. "One, Six, one down, she's alive. Moving to pursue."

"Roger Six, Three and Four get to Gladrags, render any assistance you can, but be prepared to pull out."

"One, Three. Acknowledged," said a voice over the earpiece.

* * *

Trevor led the way at a brisk place though the building, as their earpiece crackled to life again. "Six, Two. Get a move on! He's catching up to her. Your path is clear of unknowns!"

Trevor didn't bother to acknowledge as the pair of them broke into a run.

* * *

"Strider, Two. Reposition, the window to your west facing, if they keep moving that direction you may get a shot!"

"Roger Two," Harry replied, as he scrambled to his feet and moved to the window in question. He began scanning the open land beyond the buildings.

Trevor and Bill barreled around the corner of the building, to see the man casting wildly at the girl as she ran, dodging. Suddenly she went down as a blue beam impacted her, sending her sprawling and sliding on the snow covered ground.

Scrimgeour was on the girl in an instant, yanking the young woman up, bowing her back roughly, as he pulled hard on her hair, causing her to scream out in pain. "On your feet girl!" he growled. "You have an appointment and I'll have my rev-"

"Let her go!" yelled Trevor, as he slid to a stop bringing his weapon to bear, as he took cover behind the small stone wall.

Bill took up a position further up the fence, peeking over it, weapon down in his off hand and his wand ready.

"Who are you?" Scrimgeour yelled, as he pulled the girl around to use her as a shield in front of him.

"I said let the girl go," Trevor said again.

He shoved his wand into the girl's side. "You won't do anything with her-ARAGGG!" he screamed as Susan bit down hard on the inside of the man's wrist.

She then smashed her head back into the man's nose.

"ACCIO SUSAN BONES!" Bill cried, flicking his wand and watching as the girl was ripped from Scrimgeour's now loosened grasp, and sailed towards him

He stumbled, but raised his wand again aiming towards the girl.

Trevor was faster.

A quick burst of fire erupted from his MP5, the lethal lead hitting the target three times in the chest, causing him to appear to jerk uncontrollably.

"Wha-?" came out of him in a whoof of breath, before he toppled to the ground.

"One, Six. Target down. Seven is checking on his hostage now," Trevor said on his way to check on the downed man.

Bill helped the young woman to her feet. "Are you okay Miss?" he asked.

Sue nodded slowly. "I-I think so…" Her head snapped towards the building her friend was in. "HANNAH!" She tried to pull away.

"Your friend is being seen to," Bill said in what he hoped was a calming voice, even with the distortion caused by his cloak.

She looked back at the man next to her. "Who- Who are you?" she asked.

Not knowing how to answer, he gestured towards Gladrags. "Let's get you back to your friend.

Trevor was kneeling over the man he had just shot. The man's eyes were open wide and staring off at nothing. "One, Six. He's dead."

"Six, One. We will transport him with the others," said their commander's voice. "Dropping the wards in three… two… one… now."

"Roger, One," he replied, as he pulled a zip strip from a pocket inside his cape and slipped it on the man's wrist, pulling it tight, then snapping the small tag in half.

As he stood the body seemed to spin in a tight circle about its middle, then winked out of existence. He turned back towards Gladrags and the smoldering building beyond and began to walk.

"Transport complete," rang out from several sources over the head sets, along with his own pronouncement.

* * *

Susan hugged Hannah tightly. "Merlin, I'm glad you are okay," Hannah said. "What happened out there? I- I don't remember anything after that explosive hex he cast."

Susan nodded. She hadn't seen what had happened to her friend, but just hoped that she was okay when she ran. "They saved me," she said, pointing to the cloaked men that were now making their way outside.

"Who are they?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know…" Susan replied.

* * *

"All, One. Ministry incoming; Nine and Ten, stay in position till all of the students are evacuated. Everyone else report for debriefing… then the first round is on me. Strider, Glenda, thanks for your help."

"All, Glenda. No thanks necessary. Glenda, Strider, Out," Alex replied as they broke down their equipment quickly and stowed it away, wanting to get back to the castle before they were missed in the head count that was sure to follow the attack.

* * *

"Aunty!" Susan yelled when she saw the older woman making her way down the roadway towards Gladrags.

"Susan!" Amelia said sweeping her niece into her arms. "Thank Merlin! Are you alright?" she asked checking her over.

"Some bumps and bruises… Hannah was hurt worse… but we're both okay," she said letting go.

Amelia hugged Hannah as well. "I want both of you to see Madam Pomfrey, just in case. Now tell me what you saw," she said, leading the girls to the edge of the road.

Both of the girls launched into the story, Amelia watching and listening to them both closely and nodding as they told their tale.

* * *

"… and then he took me back to Gladrags, to find Hannah," Susan said. "I never did find out who they were… or what that weapon was..."

Amelia sighed. "They were additional security we thought would be prudent what with our international guests, and the trouble at the Quidditch Cup… I-I never suspected Scrimgeour would do something like that because I had to fire him… I'm sorry."

Both of the girls hugged the older woman. "It's not your fault, Aunty," Susan said. "I only wish I could have done better against him… Harry would be disappointed."

Amelia pulled her chin up so she could look her niece in the eyes. "Susan you were fighting a fully trained Senior Auror, figured out how to call for help and held your own until help could come. He will be proud of you, just like I am." She gathered the girls in her arms. "I'm proud of both of you… but I have a favor to ask."

Both of the girls looked at her expectantly as she took a breath and spoke again. "I have to ask you not to say anything about those people you saw… we need to keep their existence a secret so they can continue to do their job during the rest of this tournament, and protect the students."

Susan looked like she wanted to argue about it for a moment, but her Aunt continued. "If the people that attacked learned what happened here it will make their job that much harder and put people in danger."

"But the people in Hogsmeade, they saw…" Susan said.

"Not that much… not really, it happened to fast. All they saw were men in Auror robes." Amelia said honestly. "We'll use the part about the attempted attack on you and that it was thwarted by Auror intervention but that's it. The fire was set as a distraction when he made the attempt. Can you do this for me please?"

The pair of girls looked at each other then back at Amelia and nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Now let's get you back up to the castle."


	21. Chapter 21

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 21**

Patricia Fields sat back in the large tub of her hotel, the Boscolo Exedra Roma, luxuriating for a moment in the warmth. Sighing she opened the folder she had gotten from I section about recent local law enforcement activity, it had been one of several she had requested and the last of the important ones to go through before she started making her plans for the next few days.

People had a romantic view about being a spy. It isn't always life threatening situations and infiltrations. No, more often than not it is long hours of research and observation that in most cases leads to nothing important.

But if you try to cut those corners? That is the time that it will come back and bite you, most likely getting you killed.

She flipped to the next page, glancing through it quickly and began to turn the page to move on, then paused, something had caused that little feeling in the back of her brain to go off. Returning to the page she looked at the page more closely. It was a Coroner's report, male, twenty-five to thirty years of age, better than average height, standing six foot two. He had been found dead after being stabbed behind a local pub, a presumed robbery, as no money or jewelry were found.

When she had finished reading the page more carefully she put the folder aside and pondered what it had told her, while she added more warm water to her now cooling tub.

It wasn't so much the information that had been included in the report that had drawn her attention, rather the things that had been missing.

The body had been found behind a local pub, yes, but none of the bartenders had recognized him… that seemed odd. However, had been only been the first of the many things that drew her attention.

There was a single stab wound, a single stab that had all but rendered the man's diaphragm useless. He would have been scarcely able to utter a sound as he had suffocated, unable to inhale the slightest breath. Death would have been slow, taking several minutes for a man in what appeared to be excellent physical condition, as he gasped for breath, all the while looking his attacker in the eye.

 _That_ had been the main thing that had bothered her.

This man had been no easy mark. At over six feet and of a heavy build, he should have at the very least defended himself, but there were no defensive marks on his hands, no abrasions on the man's knuckles, and, perhaps most disturbingly, no additional tearing around the wound.

It was as if the man had accepted his death by this means, and allowed his attacker to shove the six inch blade into him with no more than a twitch as it was done.

Patricia tuned off the water and sank back into the warmth of the tub.

The man's chems had come back clean as well, not a single drug in his system, the man had not even had a sip of wine as far as they could discern…

She reached across to the chair she had brought in to use as a table and dug through the small pile of folders, pulling out one she had looked through earlier. Opening it she turned to one of the pages inside, this was not the first body found in such a state recently. In a separate part of the city, one several miles from this body (and in another jurisdiction), another had been found.

Retrieving the second coroners report she began to compare them.

They had several days in-between, and been done close to populated and well traveled areas, leading her to believe that the killer had wished the bodies to be found quickly.

Both times it had been a single stab wound in the same area, with the same effect. Only the first body had been found in a transit station bathroom in the late evening hours, as the crews cleaned.

Both had been a large men, in good health, with no signs that he had mounted any form of defense, and no drugs or alcohol involved.

Nether of the bodies had been identified.

She sighed as she placed the pages in the front of the file then picked up the leather bound book she had taken from the apartment, opened it and began to compare the picture of the body found in the alley behind the pub to the smiling man next to Marietta Esposito in the picture from the book.

"Just who are you?" she asked softly, after deciding it was the same man. "And why did you and the first victim die the same way? Why did they kill Marietta in a different fashion?" She pondered for a moment before sliding the book into the folder and rising from the tub.

"I guess there is no time like the present to find out," she said as she dried off and began to plan her next move.

* * *

Harry stepped into the Chamber of Secrets, Alex right behind him, both moving towards the small sitting area in tandem in an almost mechanical way. It had been a long day.

Harry shrugged the bag off his shoulder and placed it on the ground next to the table. "I'll clean the rifles if you put the other stuff up," he said, pointing at the duffels.

"Deal," Alex said quietly, as she sat and started pulling things from her pack.

Harry nodded and walked deeper into the chamber to gather his supplies.

He groaned as he watched several piles zip past him, depositing themselves back in their proper places, as he made his way back to where a smiling Alex was already lounging across the sofa.

"Cheater!" he said with a small chuckle as he sat and began work.

"Witch!" She smiled wider. "Forgot about that didn't you?"

"I didn't forget you were a witch…" he said with a shrug. "Just that you were old-" A pillow hit him in the face before he could continue further.

"Shut it!" she laughed.

They fell into a peaceful silence as he went back to cleaning his rifle and she sat up and began work on her own. The sooner they were done the sooner they could both go to bed.

The grinding of stone on stone had them looking up just before they heard a voice outside the vault door. "Harry? Alex?" it called quietly from just outside.

"What do you need Mia?" Harry asked, going back to his cleaning.

The bushy haired young woman looked relieved when she saw the pair and walked to join them. "I just wanted to make sure you were both okay…" she said, sitting next to Alex. "Nether one of you said much tonight during dinner… or during our study session…" She looked at the weapons they were working on, chewing her bottom lip for a moment. "Something happened today…" she said. "More than just the attack on Susan and the fire in Hogsmeade… and the pair of you were involved."

Harry looked at Alex, then back to Hermione. "Okay… If you say so," he said, then went back to his work.

Hermione sniffed. "I can smell the cordite… Harry what happened?"

He shook his head. "Nothing… You heard the story, right from Susan and Hannah… We weren't there, we were here in the castle, practicing our dancing for the ball."

Hermione harrumphed and slumped back in the seat. "Fine I get it… You can't tell me… but you need to come up with something more believable than that! We all know you can dance already," she said, eyeing him.

He shrugged, then looked at Alex and winked so Hermione couldn't see. "Snogging practice…" he said with a chuckle. "She is going to be my date after all."

For the second time that night a pillow hit him in the face. "I wish…" Alex grumbled under her breath, low enough they couldn't hear her.

"Seriously though," Hermione said, "That may fool the professors, but several of us already know how well you can dance."

He nodded. "Yeah I know," he said, as he slid the bolt home on his rifle. "But do they know how well Alex can dance?" he asked.

Hermione almost spat out a retort, but paused. "No… I guess not… I just assumed…"

Harry chuckled again, "Don't let those assumptions come back to bite you Mia…" he said. "She can dance, quite well… took a while though, we thought she had two left feet for a while."

It was Alex's turn to harrumph. "I still think James was doing that on purpose…" she said under her breath, though this time louder.

"Anyway…" Harry continued, as he rolled his eyes. "A simple explanation is usually the best. "People will accept the practice because it is something they would expect, chalking it up to nervousness because of the importance of the upcoming ball, even our friends. I'll bet you've been practicing as well, even if you won't say it."

Hermione blushed; she had been practicing whenever she had a quiet moment alone.

"You done Alex?" Harry asked.

She nodded, sliding the bolt home on her weapon and handing it to him. "I'll just put these up, then we can go back to the tower," he said, standing and walking towards the armory.

Once he was out of earshot, Hermione turned to the older woman. "It was bad wasn't it?"

Alex sighed. "Hermione, I can't-"

"You don't need to tell me what happened," the younger girl said. "Just tell me if it was as bad as I think it was… and if Harry- and you, of course were in danger?"

Alex shook her head. "It wasn't…" Alex said softly. "We were never…" She began again. "It wasn't pleasant," she finally said. "We had to do some things… But we weren't in any direct danger…" Her voice trailed off.

Hermione chewed on her lip a bit more as she pondered what the woman had said, then the table where they had been cleaning the rifles, and the smell of burnt cordite.

"Oh!" she said with a jerk to look at the woman in front of her. "Oh…" she said again, softly as it sunk in what they may have had to do.

"I'm so-" she began.

"That's done," Harry said, as he reappeared. "Let's get upstairs. It's been a long day."

Hermione's mouth snapped shut, as she stopped herself from speaking further.

She fell into step just behind the pair as they walked towards the entrance to the Chamber, her mind roaring along at the speed of a freight train as she did. They had been involved in what had happened alright, they had…

Her mind almost refused to follow through with that thought.

She had seen Harry in action before. Seen him fight for her and her family at Kings Cross… known that he had shot and possibly killed someone.

But knowing that he had done so again, today in Hogsmeade… She didn't know if she felt proud… or ill.

* * *

Amelia stepped carefully around one of the fallen beams of the Hogshead pub and made her way towards what was left of the bar, where she had heard an angry voice just moments before.

"Aberforth?" she asked, her wand already pointing.

"Aye Woman!" said a gruff voice from somewhere behind the blackened wood structure. "Who the bloody hell else would be digging through this mess?"

"I wanted to speak with you last night at St. Mungo's, but you were already asleep due to the potions…" she began.

He cut her off when he stood suddenly and slammed what appeared to be a full case of Firewhisky on the bar. "And whose bloody damn fault was that?" he yelled, "I didn't wanta go, but that damn Auror looped that bloody port-key round my head and whoosh! I'm there! Next thing I know I'm waking up in a bloody room in the damn place!"

"If you hadn't fought with the staff-" she began.

"Fought with the staff!" He laughed. "Didn't want their help! Didn't need it!"

Exasperated, she did the one thing she knew would make him shut up. She reached into her pocket and slammed a small pile of galleons down on the top of the bar. "Firewhisky," she said.

It was almost like an automatic motion. He reached to his left and retrieved a tumbler, with a chipped rim, from where he had placed it on top of a cloth on the cared bar, then into the case for an unopened bottle, placing them both in front of her.

She tugged the bottle open, grabbed another glass from the cloth and poured two drinks. "To rebuilding," she said as she lifted her drink in salute.

He looked at her for a long moment before doing the same. "To rebuilding!" They both then drank.

They smiled at each other when they belched a small whiff of fire.

"Ogden still makes the best stuff," she said.

"He should, he charges enough for it," the man said, taking a deep breath. "What can I do for the DMLE today."

Amelia smiled, "I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday… I'm afraid that the damage to your pub was caused to cover for an attempted abduction-"

The man snorted. "You must think me a fool then."

She looked at him surprised. "There were four," he said, pointing towards the front of the building. "Two casters. Your people were quick, they were all down fast… not fast enough to stop the damage from being significant… but fast… guess they had to wait for them to do something illegal before they acted."

She nodded slowly. "How did… You must have been outside…" she said.

"I don't live my entire life in here," he said with a scoffing tone. "I was tending the animals…"

She sighed. "I'm going to need you to not talk about them to anyone… security reasons."

The man nodded. "Figured, with the cloaks and all."

She shrugged. "Additional security for the Tournament, it-"

"You don't need to justify things to me," he interrupted. "I'm just a pub owner. Nothing more."

"Aberforth…" she began, then paused, shaking her head. "I just wanted to offer my apologies for what happened… The thing is I can't figure out why they chose the Hogshead… There were things that were much closer to where they apparated…"

The old man shrugged. "It doesn't matter, one place is as good as another to their type."

She nodded. "It was just a thought… did you recognize any of them?"

He shook his head. "I was too far away to hear clearly and they were all in those damn masks."

She nodded. "We will be in touch with you soon for a full statement… please don't bite the heads of my Aurors."

"Then don't send stupid ones," he said kneeling back down behind bar.


	22. Chapter 22

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 _ **NOTE: PLEASE READ!**_

 _ **I am sorry that that the chapter is a little on the sort side from my normal length. There was going to be an additional scene but it just didn't work, so was cut.**_

 _ **So once again my apologies.**_

 _ **On a further note, there will be an additional week between this and the next chapter due to some travel, I just will not have the time. **_

**So see you all in thee weeks!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 22**

"Attend me Severus." said a voice from somewhere beyond the hallway arch, most likely the sitting room.

Severus Snape's shoulders slumped before he righted himself and moved towards the voice. He paused for the barest of moments in the archway, as his eyes found those of his Master.

He sat calmly in the large chair just to the right of the fireplace, a hand resting on Bellatrix's raven locks, stroking her hair absently, as she sat curled tightly to his leg, like the ever faithful pet she was.

"I wish to know why the Bones girl has not been delivered to me," he said, his eyes cold and almost lifeless.

"When your men did not return within the allotted time, I contacted Fletcher and sent him to Hogsmeade to ascertain what had happened," Severus said, already knowing that this news may well end in his death.

"And? What did Mundungus find?" Albus asked.

"T-there seems to be some confusion on that point…" Severus said, his hands gesturing outward slightly as he did so. "There was evidence of the attack, the Hogshead was damaged, as you requested, and there was evidence of minor spell damage elsewhere, near the station… but not the damage that you wished."

Albus's eyes darkened. "What did the good people of Hogsmeade say about the incident?"

Severus began to sweat in earnest. "They- seemed to be entirely focused on the fact that the Hogshead had caught fire… although they also knew of an attempted kidnapping of a Hogwarts student. Everything else points to the quick arrival of several Aurors, but nothing else… it was over in a matter of a scant few minutes."

"And we have no word from your men?" he asked, still stroking the hair of his pet.

Severus gulped. "No, my Master," he replied. "None of them have returned."

Albus's eyes hardened further. "This is unacceptable! I do not condone failure! This is most likely due to their carelessness!" he spat. "And now the girl will also be beyond our reach!"

Severus cringed internally but did not show it outwardly. "I will endeavor-"

"CRUCIO!" Albus yelled, as the man spoke.

"This is your failure as well, my young friend," Albus said as he kept the spell trained on him. "I bade you to train them to be prepared!"

As he writhed on the floor, pain wracking his body, his master continued to speak. "Once again I am forced to place my plans on hold! This will be the last time!" he said ending the spell. "Leave me! I must think about how I will proceed!"

Severus pulled himself out of the room by force of will alone, before collapsing, unconscious outside, his body still quaking from the curse.

* * *

Patricia sighed as she looked through the small box of evidence and personal effects that had been gathered from the second murder crime scene; it was sparse to say the least. While the job had been done, it was easy to see that it had done quickly and without much in the way of care.

It had been the same way with the first murder.

Drumming her fingers on the top of the box she muttered to herself absently, "Two murders, in different parts of the city, with the same signature, sub par police work for both, and the victims going unidentified? What are the odds for that?

"Especially when you add in the same type of detective work in the apparently unassociated murder of Marietta Esposito, there are far too many coincidences." She pondered. "And to not even uncover the girl's identity is a forgery?" She shook her head in disbelief.

She sat back in the small chair, surrounded by shelves filled with evidence boxes, thinking about what else she had learned during the night.

"All three bodies remain unclaimed… officially," she muttered. "Only the two stabbings were released in a matter of days." They had remained in the coroner's mortuary just long enough for the minimal hold time to pass, then they were given over for cremation. That paperwork says they were sent to a local crematorium, but their transport paperwork shows that they were picked up by someone rather than delivered by the city… a small oversight?" She nodded to herself, "Most likely… it is something that would be easily overlooked."

"So..." she continued, working her way through the information. "Someone inside these offices, possibly several someones, are helping cover up this information."

She stood, sliding the box carefully back onto the shelf and turning to head back towards the entrance.

'Pursuing whoever was covering these incidents up within the police force, while possible,' she thought, 'is most likely futile at this juncture, and could make me the target of the local bobbies." She shook her head; that was not something she needed to deal with.

"And it could take more time than I have, at the moment.' Deciding that she would try a different angle she began checking the area methodically, making sure everything was back in its place and she had left nothing behind.

She continued to think about the direction she should pursue as she relocked the evidence room, and made her way back out of the building the way she had come. "I need to find out where the bodies went, and why someone would go to such great lengths to dispose of those bodies, after they were left so blatantly in the open... as warning perhaps?"

Stepping into the evening chill she flipped up the collar on her winter coat to stop the cool breeze. A soft snow had begun to fall, just enough to wet the pavement as it melted on the warm concrete.

Whatever this girl had become involved with was much more than she had bargained for, Patricia was certain of that, going so far as to kill nearly four hundred people to hide their interest in a list of magical schools. These people were dangerous, whoever they were, and ruthless. She needed to be careful.

She stopped on the corner and glanced back at the building she had just exited, she had taken precautions, and had been careful not to leave any traces, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something…

She shook her head and turned away, she would need to be more careful from this point on, whoever these people were they were powerful and they would be on guard after such a breach.

* * *

Amelia sagged in the chair across from James. He had done as she had asked and come to see her as soon as he had a chance after he arrived back in London.

"I heard about the attack from M when I went to give my report, Susan is okay isn't she?" he asked.

Amelia nodded slowly. "She's fine… physically. I-" She took a deep breath and blew it out. "I saw her briefly, the day of the attack. I don't think it has sunk in as of yet… I asked her Head of House, Pomona Sprout, to keep an eye on her and Hannah… and let me know if they began having trouble or aren't sleeping… She flooed last night, she found Susan sitting in the common room crying…" Her voice trailed off.

James nodded. "That is understandable, it's a rough thing she is going through, but by all accounts she handled it well."

Amelia rested her head against the plush fabric of the wing back chair, eyes looking up towards the ceiling. "She shouldn't need to handle things like that… She should be able to enjoy her years at Hogwarts.

James smiled. "I feel the same way about Harry," he said. "Unfortunately, that is just not meant to be," he continued.

Her eyes drifted down to his. "I know." She looked at him sadly. "I just wish none of this was happening…. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that we know what we do… I just wish that none of this was necessary…. And I wish Susan wasn't a target."

James nodded. "So do I," he said. "Unfortunately though, she is. As are many of the others, especially the old families."

She nodded. "We've started working on the Aurors, ferreting out the Death Eaters and their sympathizers, but it is going to be slow going."

James shrugged. "It is going to take time, the pure blood agenda is deeply entrenched in the culture… You have the population of a small to mid sized town, but the problems of a nation, one on the cusp of civil war… a war we can not afford to lose, if for nothing else, for the future of those still going to Hogwarts."

She nodded. "What was your evaluation of the mission in Hogsmeade?" she asked.

"Efficient," he said. "I wish Harry and Alex had not been involved and the team had handled it on their own, but the fact that they were able to work in tandem with the team shows promise… and yours?"

She grunted. "I wish they had left one of them alive to be questioned… but with what was at stake, it being a Hogsmeade day for the students at Hogwarts and how busy town had become because of the upcoming ball, they could take no chances. They were doomed the moment they appeared in their Death Eater garb and cast the first spell."

James conceded the point with a shrug. "True."

Amelia then sat forward. "James I want your opinion, and I plan on talking to M. I think I have come to a decision… I think I want to tell Susan… and have Harry start training her more… If she is willing," she said looking down at her hands. "She needs to be able to defend her self better, someone tried to kidnap her… I don't know what I'd do…" Her voice closed off in a choking sound.

James sat forward, taking her hands in his. "You need to think about this, if you tell her it will change the way she sees things, and also she will want Hannah to join in as well."

Amelia sighed. "I know," she said dejectedly. "I'd need to talk to Hannah's parents as well, but that may be for the best… they need to be prepared. Susan's not the only target… if something was to happen to me…" Her voice faltered.

James nodded. Those two were as close as any sisters and everyone knew it. He grasped her hands tighter. "The Abbotts will understand, they know that your position comes with a risk, and they would have help. Sirius would help as would Cissy, Harry, myself and the others."

She smiled at him softly. "I know… I just think she needs to understand why I think this is so important, not only to the Bones family, but to our world."

He nodded. "Then talk to M, then to Susan… You need to do what you feel is right."


	23. Chapter 23

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 23**

Patricia's foot swung to an unheard rhythm as she sipped her cup of lukewarm tea that she had poured from the now empty thermos, as she watched the comings and goings from the small mortuary from the cold front seat of the car she had 'borrowed' not long after the sun had risen this morning. She had gotten it from the long term parking at Leonardo da Vinci Airport where she had watched the owner arrive and was, most likely, making her way back into the city before he had settled in at his gate to await the call to board his plane.

She figured that it would be at least five days before his return, though she didn't expect to keep the vehicle more than a day. She would even be nice about it and fill the petrol tank before she returned it.

She sighed, missing her Mercedes C36 AMG; it would have been much more comfortable. Though admittedly it would also have been much more conspicuous than a 1993 Fiat Uno , hence her decision to choose her current mode of transport.

The Uno was all but invisible here in Rome, sinking into the background just like its own dull silver grey paint. She could see three of the same make and color from where she was currently parked.

She had had a stroke of luck with the weather as a small amount of snow was falling, just enough to wet the pavement as it melted, keeping the sidewalks empty of traffic for the most part, less chance of someone spotting her without her being aware of their presence.

'Surveillance,' she thought with a chuckle, 'the ever glamorous life of a MI6 agent.'

* * *

Harry stepped into the chamber and tossed his robes onto one of the chairs in the sitting section as he made his way toward the area that housed their small kill house. It wasn't overly large, containing just six rooms downstairs, that were resizable by using magic to push the walls around, as well as a pair of staircases that could be moved the same way. Upstairs there were enough walls to do the same but most of the time it served as storage for different things, depending on what they were working on. All of it hidden in one of the tunnel-like alcoves across from their firing range.

"Morning guys," Harry said. "Alex, Moody, Croaker… gang's all here. Are we ready?"

The carrot twin terrors nodded. "Indeed we are Harry," said Fred. "George? If you would," he said, gesturing toward the doorway.

Fred handed Harry a silver coin. "Standard muggle two pound coin, squeeze the flat sides hard."

Harry flipped the coin over in his fingers then did as he was asked. It took a little effort but he felt something snap in the center of the coin as the metal sides gave a little.

When he looked up a grinning Fred said, "Throw it, into the room, quickly!"

The coin bounced once in the center of the room, then suddenly the room disappeared into an inky darkness.

"It was filled with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and uses a small charge that Mr. Q designed to disperse it. There's one using a galleon as well… just don't spend them, I don't think the Goblins would like that," he said with a chuckle.

Harry smiled at the joke, but knew all too well his 'Uncle' would love it, and would most likely have something of a similar nature made in short order for his own forces to use within the confines of the Goblin walls.

"How long does it last?" Harry asked.

George shrugged, "Depends on how good the ventilation is, in an enclosed area with no air moving? At least fifteen minutes. Outside, with a slight wind? Figure less than five. It can cover about twenty square meters."

Harry nodded. 'More than a little useful,' he thought.

"Final tests are done," Croaker said. "You can take these now," he added, handing Harry and Alex each a small stack of five two pound coins. "The Galleons will be done in a few days. There will be extras added to the inventory here as well. They set off neither muggle nor magical detections."

The two agents nodded.

"Next is something I think you will be most keen on," Fred said, holding up a small square box that fit comfortably in the palm of his hand. "The Decoy Detonators… Did a bit of a redesign on these actually, to make them a bit less noticeable if someone saw them." He pushed down on the top as he spoke.

A split formed horizontally on the box about one third the way up the side, becoming a pair of small blocky feet, then the top split in half exposing what looked like a small funnel.

"Once it's open set it on the ground and give it a nudge in the direction you want it to go." Harry watched as Fred set it on the ground and gave it a soft tap with his foot.

It immediately lifted off the ground about a centimeter then shot of in the direction it had been pointed, if he hadn't been looking directly at the thing he may have well missed it or thought what he had seen was a trick of the light.

Seconds later a loud 'BANG' rang out from deep in the firing range. "It's charmed to only detonate when it can not be seen," George supplied. "It will fire five times then destroy tself."

Harry smiled; these two were a gold mine!

Croaker handed them each a small oblong box. "Five each, they're a little trickier to make than the coins and will only work for a magical, so at the moment the coins are the priority."

"Last are these," George said, placing a cigar sized box on the table. "Potion lozenges, each holds a concentrated dose of a single potion."

Harry looked in the box noting the different colored wrappers. George pointed to each in turn. "Red is Pepper-up, Green is Purgative... it will remove just about any contaminant in your system like a sedative or drug. Blue is blood replenishment, White is Skelegrow… Not enough to do a full bone replacement but enough for most cracks and breaks… as long as the bone is set… and finally Black… it is probably the most important and the only one that can be taken any time, even if you have taken another lozenge within the last three hours. It contains a bezoar… and can save your life from most poisons."

Harry picked one of the pieces wrapped in black foil up and slipped it into his pocket and after a moment Alex did the same. "Thanks guys," he said, picking up the box. "You have no idea how much your help means."

The twins nodded. "We're beginning to Harry," said Fred. "The more we hear from Croaker and Moody about what is going on and what you've accomplished already, the more we want to help."

"Just keep thinking like you have and you'll be helping out a lot." Harry said.

* * *

Cedar walked into her boss's office. He was a balding man with a body going slightly to seed as he had rarely seen a day out in the field over the last few years, leading his once muscular physique to become 'love handles'.

In the time she had been in his office she had learned that he was a man that was more focused on accountability and procedure than results causing more than a little friction within his domain, especially when something happened that in some way caused things to happen outside what he considered the correct way to do things.

She waited quietly until he finished what he was doing and looked up.

"So Felix Leiter _is_ your father," he said in an accusing tone.

She grimaced internally but didn't allow her aggravation to show through to her face. She had never told anyone that, and she had not asked nor received any special treatment because of her father's reputation and position. "Yes," she said simply.

"Then that explains it," he muttered.

She looked at him blankly. "Explains what sir?"

His face grew angry. "It explains why you weren't summarily _**fired**_! Despite my recommendation after your little jaunt, deciding not to return from your vacation!" he growled.

He stood up and leaned forward, both palms flat on his desk. Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke. "You must have known what kind of report I would file once you decided to turn up and went crying to daddy! To think that with all that was going on, and the dangers we face that he would use his influence to sweep your… **Blatant disregard** under the carpet is stunning to me!"

"I don't know what the man is thinking! You may well get somebody killed!" he yelled.

"I wanted you out!" he spat, slamming his hand on his desk. "But thanks to your _father,_ it seems that you will keep your job!" He thrust a file into her chest. "Thankfully you will be someone else's problem!"

She was about to protest but then decided against it and bit her tongue, as she looked at her transfer orders.

"You can bet that I will be contacting your new superior, personally, before your arrival and telling him exactly the type of agent he will be getting, despite what your file says!" he told her with a vindictive smile on his lips. "There is no way your daddy can make _that_ go away!"

She glared darkly at the man, knowing that what had caused this entire mess was classified above his level, and there was nothing she could say to convince him that she had done nothing wrong.

"Is that all sir?" she asked coldly, lowering the folder to her side.

"Get out of my office!" he yelled, when it was evident that the arrogant girl just didn't seem to care what he thought.

Spinning on her heel, Cedar turned and made her way out of the wood paneled office, closing the door behind her with a 'click'.

* * *

Harry ran the lint brush over the tailored robes hanging on the hook at the end of his bed, checking closely and making sure that they would all be in order when he came out of the shower.

"Harry? Wat'cha doing mate?" asked his red headed roommate.

"I'm making sure my robes are ready for tonight," he said, glancing at the young man as he was turning them around to begin work on the other side.

Ron looked confused. "You've got hours yet before you need to get ready!" he said in an almost scandalized voice. "It's only four! And the thing doesn't even start until seven!"

Harry chuckled. "And I still need to finish up with the outer robes, then check on my shirt and pants, then check and make sure that my shoes are shined, take a shower, and shave… then I'll have a small bite to eat-"

The boy sat up from where he was lying on his bed reading a quidditch magazine. "EAT?" he said. "I thought they were serving dinner?"

"They are," Harry replied, "but dinner probably won't be served till after eight, or eight thirty… to give people time to mingle a bit and find their seats."

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "That makes sense, I should probably eat something then… but that still doesn't explain what you're doing."

Harry sighed. "Ron I have my Lordship and am the Heir to another one. I need to be sure that I don't dishonor them and part of that is the impression I make at events like these."

Ron shook his head. "Better you than me, mate. I don't think I could stand it."

Harry shrugged. "It's not so bad. My dad has to do a lot of the same type of thing."

Ron looked confused again. "Why would he need to do that, he's a muggle."

Harry chuckled. "Just because he's not magical doesn't mean that he doesn't need to watch how he dresses. He has a job where he needs to work with and around important people, in both the government and private companies, so he needs to dress well… I think of it kind of like his uniform in a way… besides I don't want Alex to be embarrassed and get mad at me because I show up in wrinkled robes if I can keep from it with a little work."

Ron nodded slowly, his eyes slowly going wide. "Shite… If I show up looking like… Lavender will be pissed!"

Harry chuckled again as Ron leapt from the bed and rushed toward his school trunk.


	24. Chapter 24

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 24**

Harry shook his head as Ron left through the portrait along with his smiling date. It had taken combined clothing pulled from his and Neville's closets, as well as the deft spell work of their head of House, Professor Sinistra to deal with the disaster that had been the dress robes of Ron Weasley.

The originals had been an eyesore all on their own, an odd shade of pea green, but what had made it that much worse was the addition of small green tassels hanging from the break of both the front and back of the robe, and lace framing the front and both sleeves. To call the thing ugly would have been an understatement.

Then there had been the smell…

Oh, god! That horrible stench! Harry shuddered at the thought of it.

The set of robes had been stored, forgotten, in the bottom of Ron's trunk from the beginning of the year, wrapped in brown butcher's paper with moth balls, on top of which he had tossed in god knew what, including a half melted cauldron, and what ever he had been making in it during potions, that had leaked all over the package, and three large lumps of green fuzzy… Something. Harry would almost swear he saw one of them blink a misshaped eye when Ron had opened the trunk.

Once the mess had been disposed of, with the help of the Professor, they had raided his and Neville's clothing to try to put together a set of robes for the distraught redhead. In the end they had pulled it off, and Ron was set for the evening, but he would need to be back in the tower by no later than midnight as that was the latest Professor Sinistra could guarantee her magical alterations would last.

"What was Mrs. Weasley thinking with those robes, Neville?" he asked once he was sure the couple was gone.

Neville sighed. "I-I think they probably belonged to one of his uncles…" Neville's voice trailed off. "Once upon a time, they would have been quite stylish."

Harry gave his friend a disgusted look. "Those things? Stylish?"

Neville nodded. "About fifty years ago, yes… That lace was very intricate…"

Neville saw the odd look his friend was giving him, and shrugged. "My father was wearing something similar in some of his old photographs, and I asked my grandmother about it. She explained that having intricate lace, made by hand since doing it with magic was never practical, had become a sign of wealth and prosperity when she was very young, and it had held over, for formal occasions. That stopped several years ago. She probably thought it would be okay for tonight… they don't go to many ministry functions."

"And the color?" Harry asked.

Neville snorted. "That, I don't know. You think the color faded over the years?"

Harry shook his head. "Well I guess it worked out. What do you think he will tell his mum?"

Neville chuckled again. "If he's smart? He won't say a word."

"This is Ron," Harry said, turning his attention to the sound of voices coming from the girls' rooms. "Even if he doesn't let his mouth get away from him, he's still got three siblings here tonight. He's just not lucky enough for someone not to say something."

Neville nodded his agreement as he joined his friend waiting for the girls to appear.

Alex was the first of them to walk onto the small balcony, dressed in a deep cranberry red dress that left one shoulder bare. It was very elegant, Harry thought, a little risqué for Hogwarts but nothing scandalous, just a little more muggle than most.

Hermione walked with her chatting as they made their way down stairs, her dress a beautiful periwinkle that made the most of her complexion. While a little less daring than Alex's it did wonders for the young woman, especially when you added the fact that they had somehow tamed her normally bushy mane of hair,

"Alex, Hermione, you both look amazing!" Harry said with a wide smile, taking their hands, each in turn, and kissing their knuckles.

"And you two look quite dashing," replied Alex.

Hermione nodded, fighting a blush, then added, "Parvati is getting dressed in Ravenclaw with her sister… It's too bad Gin and Luna won't be able to go…"

Neville sighed. "Yeah, it's too bad they made this for only fourth year and up. There were a lot of sad faces when they announced that."

They made their way toward the exit. "Hermione do we need to wait for your date?"

She shook her head. "No I told him I'd meet him outside the Great Hall."

Hearing that, Neville offered his arm to her. "Then please allow me to escort you down, I told Hannah I'd meet her there as well."

She smiled at him gratefully and took his arm, as Alex did the same taking Harry's and they made their way out into the hallway.

As they turned into the hallway near the Great Hall they were greeted by Headmistress McGonagall. "Mr. Bond, Ms. Harper, Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Granger, you look very nice this evening. Mr. Bond, the champions and their dates are gathering in the anteroom we used following the drawing of the names, if you would be so kind as to join them? You as well Ms. Granger I believe your date has already arrived," she said, gesturing to a door down the hall. "You will all be announced just before the ball begins."

Hermione blushed, as her friends turned to look at her. "I'm going with Victor... he's just a friend… I met him in the library… He was having trouble finding things."

Alex quirked up an eyebrow. "Yeah… I'm sure that's how it was."

However Harry looked aggravated. "Hermione…" he growled quietly. "What were you thinking! You know what I expect to happen at the next task! You're potentially putting yourself in danger!"

"Mr. Bond!" the headmistress said cutting off his rant, with an equally quiet but stern voice. "This is not the time nor the place for such a discussion! But suffice it to say your warning was appreciated and I am working my best to see that if something like you suspect were to come to pass no harm would come to anyone."

He glanced at the Headmistress. "My apologies Headmistress, but the mere thought of someone's life being placed in danger for a game…"

"I quite agree with you Mr. Bond, and that includes the champions. If I could I would end this… farce!" she said with a hiss. "But it seems that is out of my control, but rest assured I will see that everything is as safe as possible!"

Harry nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Very well, you all have places to be. I suggest you be on your way. Mr. Longbottom I expect you can find your date for the evening?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, moving of to find Hannah.

Before they got to the doorway Alex pulled Harry to a stop. "Harry, I've known about this date since he asked her," she said softly.

"Then why didn't you stop her!" he growled hotly.

"Harry!" Hermione said, angrily. "You don't run my life!" she snapped.

His head swiveled towards her, eyes wide. "But Herm-"

"No Harry!" she said, the anger plain on her face. "I know what may happen in the next task! This is my decision! _And_ I am taking my own precautions!" she continued, jabbing a finger into his chest and causing him to back up slightly.

"Alex teaching me to use the emergency diving equipment!" she said jabbing him again. "I'll be better prepared than any other girl he could have chosen! Or would you rather have someone else down there that is helpless?"

Harry stared at her for a moment then let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as his shoulders sagged. "Fine…" he said slowly, rubbing his hand over his face. "Fine, yes you're right…" He looked at Alex. "Make sure you get her ready, I want her armed as well." He looked back to Hermione. "You wanted training? "You wanted training? You've got it! Welcome to _HELL_!" he said, steel in his voice, then stormed away into the Champions' room.

* * *

Harry just didn't know what to think, as he stood alone in one corner of the Champions' room, glancing every so often at the door wishing they had told him about what they were doing instead of dropping it on him like they did. "Damn it Alex, you're supposed to be my partner!" he muttered under his breath, quiet enough no one could make out what he said.

"Problem there Harry?" asked the young man walking over to join him, along with his date. "I can't believe anyone would stand you up."

"Hmmm?" he said glancing over at Cedric Diggory. "Oh! No!" he said looking abashed. "No… Well possibly…" he added glancing at the door again. "Hermione and I… well we had a fight."

"Hemione Granger's your date?" asked the young woman next to Cedric, Cho Chang. "I thought Padma said you were going with Alex Harper."

Harry nodded. "I am… but she…" he said pausing, then looked at both of them. "Have you solved the egg yet?" he asked.

Cedric eyed him, "I have, just yesterday… why? Haven't you."

Harry's face grew dark. "I've had it for a while now." He looked at each of them in turn. "Putting that with the research I have about this tournament has led me to some nasty implications about that clue."

Harry watched as the wheels in Cedric's head began to spin, then said, "What would you miss the most?" he asked, then glanced at the girl standing next to him. "A thing… or a person?"

Cedric's eyes grew wide, as he looked at him in disbelief.

"From what we found all of these tournaments have had some form of hostage," he said. "I don't know anything for certain, but…" His voice trailed off.

"They wouldn't-" Cedric began.

"Cedric, they put us up against full grown nesting dragons! With their real eggs no less!" he said raising his voice and capturing the attention of the others that were gathered. "For a stupid game! I wouldn't put it past them!"

"But how would they…" Cedric looked around the room. "Our dates?"

Harry nodded slowly. "Hermione is going with Victor Krum."

"And you have a problem with this?" asked a strongly accented voice.

Harry shook his head. "With you taking her to the ball? No. Not at all," as Victor walked nearer, alongside the statuesque blond champion from France.

"Then what is the problem? And where is Hermione?" he asked, struggling with her name.

Harry sighed, throwing his hands up into the air. "We're friends, okay? And we had a fight! It wasn't about you… not directly at least!"

"Then, exactly what was this fight about?" asked the blond, Fleur Delacour.

"It was about…" He paused a moment, deciding they need to know as well. "Have either of you figured out the clue from the egg."

The foreign pair looked at each other then both nodded. "Of course!" said the blond, "Da!" came from the Bulgarian.

"And what do you know about the history of these events?" he asked.

The Bulgarian shrugged, "It is a difficult and potentially fatal contest, one that will see great fame for the winner!"

The blond scrunched up her nose at his answer. "It is a way to test yourself, and what you have learned."

"So neither of you looked into the types of contest that were held in the past?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Yes," Krum said. "I did. Magical creatures, difficult tasks, obstacles of all kinds!"

Fleur nodded as well. "Exactly. Difficult to be sure but not impossible."

Harry looked dumbfounded. "Really? Did it escape your notice that these games cost almost a third of the contestants their lives, and more than half lost at least a limb? If not more?"

They looked at each other then back again and Harry could almost see it in their eyes, 'That won't be me, it will be the other person'. He shook his head, "How about the fact that in _all_ of the tournaments there has been a hostage rescue task? Did that escape your notice too?"

"Harry," Cedric said. "You said you weren't certain. Maybe you're wrong."

"I hope that I am Cedric, I really do, but it makes a twisted kind of sense," he said. "Think about it. We are only thinking about our dates tonight, having a nice evening with them. We'd miss them the most-"

"Then I would have no worries," scoffed the blond. "I hardly know the boy I am being escorted by tonight, he asked and I needed someone to come with me. Nothing more."

But Victor looked less sure. "So you had this fight with your friend because you are concerned for her safety? What of your date."

Harry nodded. "I am… I've taken steps to assure Alex's safety… She already knows how to dive, and we have a plan already mapped out… And I'll be doing the same with Hermione… It just caught me off guard is all. She hadn't told me she was going with you to the ball."

"Dive?" Cedric asked, "What are you talking about Harry?"

Harry sighed. "Diving is another term for SCUBA, Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. It's a muggle invention that allows them to swim deep under the water's surface… you can get the same effect with a bubble head charm, more or less, as long as you have a way to deal with the buoyancy."

"And this is something both you and Alex can do?" Cedric asked.

Harry nodded. "My father taught me, and Alex often spends her summers in Jamaica."

They all looked at the door as it opened and the pair of girls in question stepped in, along with the Headmistress. "If you would join your dates please, we are ready to begin."


	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry for the delay, but some things just cant be helped.**

 **Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 25**

Pat leaned heavily against the doorway to the restroom, panting with effort. It had taken almost all that she had to make it this far. Sagging forward she collapsed, sitting on the rim of the bathtub and only then did she peel off her coat exposing a mass of bloody hand towels held in place by the roll of plastic wrap she had wrapped around her body.

She set the hard plastic case she had been carrying on the lid of the loo, then opened it revealing the emergency first aid kit Q had placed in all of their field gear.

Hesitantly, she began unwrapping the wound, hissing as she pulled the final towel away and getting a good look at the gaping thing for the first time, as fresh blood began oozing down her side.

Her hands moved shakily to the kit as she began to work, her mind moving back to the events that had led up to her current condition.

Christmas Eve, it had seemed like the perfect time to take a sneak peek at the mortuary she had had under surveillance. She had watched as the little old man she assumed was the patriarch of the family that owned the establishment locked up and made his way to his car in the small lot close by.

All of the information she had received from Jackson Marrow, head of Station I, had shown that the business was exactly what she had expected; a multi-generational family owned business.

After dark she had made her way into the building through the loading dock in the rear, and begun her search.

Originally everything had seemed to be going to plan, until she had heard footsteps coming down one of the stone floored hallways.

Moving quickly she had folded and shoved the paperwork she had been looking at into her thin backpack, and pushed the filing cabinets closed carefully. She had just made it across the room and into the small closet as the door to the office opened.

" _Father wishes an update on your progress,_ " said the rough voice in Italian.

" _We are still in the process of generating a new timetable,_ " said a second male voice. " _Due to the… bad judgment of my predecessor, we have been forced to make certain… adjustments, I will have the new schedule complete before the end of the year._ "

The first voice sounded irritated as it replied. " _Father has given you the target dates!"_ it growled. " _If you can not meet those dates-"_

The second voice cut him off. " _We will be ready, you may assure him of that!"_ said the voice, then the desk chair creaked. " _It is not the final date of the operation that is in question, it is the procurement of the equipment and materials that are necessary_. _Not all of the avenues that were previously available are possible at this time."_

" _But you are confident that with these… adjustments the dates can be met?"_ asked the first voice _._

" _I am…" replied the second. "…However, there will be some risk involved. You may wish to prepare Father for such an outcome."_

The sound of irritation returned. " _What form of risk?"_

" _Nothing of import,"_ said the voice. " _It will be monetary… and possibly some minor manpower, nothing that could put COLD at risk,"_ he said with a dismissive quality.

" _See that it does not!"_ the other voice said.

" _Please assure Father that it will all be as he wishes, I am seeing to it personally,"_ he said.

" _We will be expecting your next update before the end of the year_ ," said the other voice.

" _That is the latest that you will have it, I hope to have it to Father before then,_ " he said.

" _Very well_ ," said the other voice. " _Have you had any other issues?_ "

The man sighed. " _No, thankfully it seems to have been an isolated incident, and the actions taken afterward swift enough to limit the issue._ "

" _Good, it is best to deal with such things swiftly…_ " he said. " _I trust you have been taking precautions for-_ "

" _You chose me for this position for a reason,_ " the voice replied, cutting the man's thought short. " _Precautions are in place… Including one for this._ " A tapping sound came from whatever he was hitting.

" _I will leave you to it then,_ " said the voice, footsteps retreating towards the door. " _Father will be displeased if you fail._ " The door clicked as the man exited.

She barely breathed, not wanting to alert the remaining man of her presence.

After a couple of minutes, the man exploded in anger. " _Fail? Me?_ " the man ranted, throwing something across the room, sending a crash of smaller objects clattering. " _How DARE he_!" the man howled. " _Before this is over Father will be singing my praises!_ "

She then listened as the man rose and made his way towards the door, slamming it as he went.

She waited a few more minutes before slowly opening the door and stepping out into the office, returning to the file cabinets. Keeping an eye on the door she went back to work, looking for any thing she could find related to something called COLD.

A scant five minutes later her world exploded.

* * *

Harry walked back to the champions' table, carrying a pair of fresh drinks. Alex smiled at him as he did and then stood, pulling Victor towards the dance floor and leaving him alone at the table with Hermione.

He placed the drink in front of her. "Harry," "Mia," They both began, then paused waiting for the other to speak.

Sighing, Harry began again. "Mia… I-"

"I'm sorry Harry," she blurted out, a tear in the corner of her eye. "I-I didn't… I should have said something…" she said softly. "I just…" She took a deep breath, looking up at him.

"Mia, it's okay.." he began.

She shook her head, setting the soft curls framing her face swaying. "No... it's not," she said. "I should have said something when Victor asked… and not made Alex promise not to say anything… Please don't be mad at her…" she pleaded.

"Mia…" He sighed again. "I'm just worried…" he said, placing his hand over hers on the table. "This tournament… it's ridiculously dangerous… I just wanted you... all of you safe… including Alex… Unfortunately that just isn't going to happen."

He took a deep breath and let it out again. "You were right, and your instincts were good," he said softly, pulling her into a hug as he stood. "We just need to make sure you are prepared… we'll figure it out."

She nodded and hugged him tighter. "Meantime," he said pulling away from her slightly, "what would you say to a dance?"

She smiled at him and dabbed her eyes with a small handkerchief. "I believe I would like that very much, Harry."

"Then lead the way," he said, taking her hand as they moved through the crowd towards the dance floor.

They were on their second turn around the floor when a hand touched him on the shoulder. Harry smiled and handed Hermione's hand over to her date as he gathered Alex in his arms in a smooth transition.

Alex's smile matched his. "I take it things went well?' she asked.

Harry's smile faltered. "If you were asking me if I am okay with it? Then no, I'm not. Do I understand? Then grudgingly, yes I do…"

He looked down at her his eyes serious. "I want you both completely comfortable with the gear we will be using… I'm going to talk to my dad as well… I've seen a few things scattered around that could be useful… in an emergency."

Alex's eyebrow quirked upwards. "Do I want to know?"

"Oh, you know us boys and our toys," he said with a wide grin and a wink.

She grinned back. "Trust me it's not just you boys."

* * *

Patricia stood gently, testing the patch job she had done. Satisfied that it would do until she could get to medical, she then looked at the full length mirror. She was a fright, she looked pale and blood coated her left side where the sharp end of the rebar had slashed through her side. A large bruise was already forming on the same shoulder from when the large hunk of flooring had come lose and hit her.

She was going to be stiff and sore, to say the least. Her mobility was compromised and she would need to be careful with her side until she had someone look over the wound and possibly do something more than what she could at the current time.

Stripping down she stepped into the shower intent on removing the rest of the blood, and hissed as the warm water felt like needles on her sensitive skin.

She focused on what had happened earlier to keep her mind off of the pain.

There had been no warning, nothing at all. In the blink of an eye she had found herself trapped in a pile of rubble looking at the tangled remains of the office furniture and coffins all around her, and looking up at a the remains of a slowly crumbling building.

She had felt the sting in her side the moment she had tried to move, and looking down she had found a growing puddle of blood coming from a jagged gash in her side and a piece of rebar just inches from impaling her.

She could already hear sirens in the distance, and knew that she needed to get out of what remained of the building before they got control of the scene and their search and rescue teams could enter the building.

Using the lining of one of the coffins as a make shift bandage she made her way towards the back of the building.

Thankfully, the building had only been three stories, and she had been on first floor when the explosion happened. She had been able to pick her way through the rubble to the surface with only a little trouble and make her way towards her car and drive into the night.

She knew returning to her hotel was not possible with the way she looked at this point so she had made do with what she could find in the first closed establishment she ran across, a small restaurant. Then after ditching the car she had made her way to one of the safe houses the 00 section maintained in important cities.

Stepping out of the shower she looked herself over again as she began to dress. She was in rough shape. More bruises were forming, and she was covered in cuts and scrapes.

Sighing, she headed stiffly towards the room's telephone.

After slipping her scrambler over the receiver, she dialed a number.

"Universal Exp-" a voice began only to be cut off.

"Day Code: Ice, Place, Satisfied. Call Sign: Rook."

"Verifying," replied the voice. After a moment the voice spoke again. "Proceed."

"M: Initiate. Message begins: Area hot, possibly compromised, injured. Need evacuation. At location A thirty-four. Situation in flux."

"Understood, Rook," said the voice, followed by a short pause. "Instructions: Stand Fast. Will have assets in area soonest."

"Acknowledged," Pat said and hung up the phone.

Sitting gingerly at the table she pulled her battered backpack towards her, opened it and began rummaging through what she had stuffed into it just before she had been interrupted in the office.

'It's a long shot,' she thought, 'but at the moment it is all I've got…'

'Just what is COLD?' she wondered, as she flipped through the invoices.


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry for the delay, things were a bit hectic here.**

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 26**

Pat shifted in her chair slightly, bringing her pistol to bear on the doorway as the warning bell on the security system chimed.

"I always felt Hastings was a better choice for a holiday," said a voice from beyond the door.

She stood slowly, picking up a small bottle of perfume from the table next to her as she did, yet never allowing her pistol to waver from its position.

"I prefer the city," she replied.

"The sea air would do you more good," the voice answered back.

Making sure the block that would keep the door from being forced wide open was in place, she cracked the door open, and sprayed the contents of the perfume container into the air outside.

When she had given a moment for the water from the 'Thief's Downfall' to work she released the block allowing the two men outside to enter.

"Healer Hastings, Mr. Waters," she said with a slight smile. "Wish I could offer you a cuppa, but I'm not quite at my best at the moment," she continued, placing her hand gently against the thick bandages on her side; they were stained a pink color.

The elder healer was immediately in motion, his wand in hand and a spell on his lips that lifted her gently into the air. "You check things here, I'll take her to the bedroom, join me when you are done."

"You got it Doc," said the man as he secured the door and began a security sweep, his own weapon now in hand.

Jim Hastings sighed as he moved through the small apartment, his patient floating just in front of him. "He seems to be a nice man, but I keep telling him it is Healer Hastings… at least in private."

Pat chuckled softly. "Best get used to it Jim, it's hard to break them of something once they start. Have they had any luck recruiting your partner as of yet?" she asked as he lowered her onto the bed and began to cast different spells on the bed.

"Yes, he is getting up to speed now on how things are going to work and the research we have at the moment. His name is Alphonse Riker - he was a specialist in Emergency Medicine with the Royal Navy," the elder man said, as she felt the bed firm to almost the rigidity of a board beneath her as he weaved another spell.

"Alright let's get a look at you," he said, waving his wand again causing her bandages to vanish and her seeping wound to be visible.

He grunted. "Nasty," he said, as he placed his bag on the small bedside table and sank his arm deep inside. "It's a good thing I made the bed impervious, or we may have needed to vanish the mattress… I'm going to need to put you out for this," he told her.

She shook her head. "We can't afford that Jim..."

"I'm the Healer here," he said, cutting her off. "And I can have you awake again in seconds if need be."

She scowled at him for a moment then nodded; less than a second later she lay unconscious after being hit by a red colored spell from the man's wand.

* * *

"We look clear for now Doc," Mike Waters said coming into the room. "Ouch!" he said looking at the large gash now laying open again in the woman's side, getting a good look at her for the first time. "Someone really did a number on her… What can I do to help?" he asked.

"Nothing at the moment," the Healer said as he went about his work. "The laceration is deep, it goes all the way through the muscle layer… I'm surprised she was able to walk."

"Doc, according to what my briefing said she did a hell of a lot more than just walk," Mike chimed in.

The Healer nodded as he worked. "Leave me to my work, I will need all my concentration to help her. Without magic of her own this will be most difficult."

Mike nodded and made his way back out of the room.

Mike Waters had seen a lot in his career, but the last few months as a part of the team had been a real eye opener. He had known magic was real most of his life, as his father had been a squib and, thankfully, his grandparents had not been the type to cut all ties with their son.

And while their relationship had never been the strongest, it had been enough to see them informed about some of the dangers that had come about due to the rise of Voldemort. Because of the their warnings his parents had encouraged his decision to join the military, even so far as signing his early enrolment forms when he turned seventeen. Then they gave up their home and his father's practice to join the newly formed Medecines Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), and left the country.

He sat forward as the man he was tasked with protecting exited the bedroom.

"That will do for now," he said. "I've dealt with the most threatening issues for the moment." He moved to sit down across from Mike in one of the leather chairs. "Could I trouble you for a drink, young man?" he asked. "That was more taxing than I expected."

Mike nodded and moved toward the kitchenette. "Tea?" he asked automatically as he went toward the stove.

"No, thank you. Water will do," the older man said. "I'm going to take a nap shortly, and tea tends to keep me awake."

Mike didn't reply as he moved to fill a glass and took it to him. "Will she be okay?" he asked as he sat again.

"Oh, she will be fine," he said, taking deep drink of water then setting the glass on the side table. "Bit tricky healing those without magic, takes a lot out of you, and it is very slow," he said with a sigh. "If she had been a magical, I would expect her up and around, if very sore, by morning without so much as a scar to show…"

He looked over his shoulder toward the room. "As it is… it will be at least three, if not four days before she will be able to do that much."

"Three…" Mike looked at the man, stunned. "Three or four days? A wound like that should take weeks to heal!"

Healer Hastings chuckled. "I am quite aware of that, but we have found that the healing can be… directed, for the lack of a better term, with the use of magic as certain potions and salves are in use."

He paused, and leaned forward. "The problem is it takes someone with a particularly high level of ability giving almost their entire attention to do so," he said with a shrug, "as well as being exhausting."

"Using Patricia as an example," he continued, "It will take me several more treatments to seal her major wound permanently, the last coming sometime late tomorrow. Then several more of a different type for it to be strong enough for her to move around under her own power, a day at the least beyond that… at the least."

Mike nodded. "Still, it is better than spending the next month lying flat on her back, then months of physical therapy to get her back into shape."

The elder man shrugged again. "Granted, let's just hope you and your men can keep yourselves in one piece for the time being, it would be almost impossible to deal with more than one such injury at a time."

Mike chuckled. "Noted, we'll do our best."

* * *

Pat slowly moved to the small dinette and Mike smiled as he put the plate down in front of her. "Doc's orders, you eat it all, then we can talk."

She shook her head. "I'll eat, you talk. What did they tell you?" she asked, gesturing to a chair as she began to eat.

He sighed and sat down. "Where do you want to start?"

"I've been down three days, just give me the rundown," she said.

"Alright, I've got the official report on the explosion, but I expect you already know what it will say," he said with a shrug.

"Let me guess," she said as she swallowed. "Gas explosion?"

He nodded. "Got it in one," he said, sliding a page out of the folder from section I's daily briefing. "Just as you asked all of the information we have has been through passive channels."

She nodded."Good, I don't want requests for further information to give the investigation away… I suspect whoever they are they have connections deep into local law enforcement," she said, chewing absently.

He shrugged again. "The collection team set up surveillance on your hotel for two days, they didn't see anything before they collected everything."

"Standard procedure," she replied, thinking. "They're good, they wouldn't miss anyone checking up."

He slid another page out of the folder. "Fire was intense by the time the brigade arrived. It took almost five hours to put out. Between that and the water we think your exit was covered."

She grunted in a very un-lady like fashion. "I was lucky, no two ways about it… but I don't think they had any idea I was there, or had been watching them."

He sat back. "So this was what? A precaution? Burnt earth?"

She nodded. "From the discussion I heard that is what I suspect. The guy in charge was new," she said as she re-ran the conversation in her head. "He had just taken over after a security breach, presumably the loss of the list…"

"He seems to also be having issues with procurement," she said, thinking. "Most likely weapons, or explosives of some form… He said that there was a final date for the operation that couldn't be missed."

"Did he give any indication of how long it would be till then?" he asked.

She shook her head slowly. "No, but they have enough time to adjust the timetable some, not as much as they once had but some, and need to gather materials in a more risky manner now. The final schedule needed to be in their leader's hands by the first of the new year…" She trailed off.

"Well that's good, I'll have our people keep an eye out for anything of that sort," he said. "Can you think of anything else?"

"They referred to their leader as Father…" He made a note on an empty page.

"Like a parent?" he asked.

"No…" she said thinking about it. "He said it more like it was… more like a… a title. Not as much familiarity."

He made another note. "Anything else?"

She shrugged. "He wasn't happy about cleaning up after someone else…" she said. "Other than that, no."

"Yeah well, it's like that no matter what side you're on." he said, making a bad joke of it. "I'll get this sent back, you finish eating. When Doc wakes up he'll want to have a look at you," he said, standing and walking toward the telephone.

* * *

"Auntie!" yelled Susan as she stepped out of the floo and into the waiting arms of Amelia Bones.

"Hello Suzie," Amelia said, accepting the hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there when the train arrived yesterday, but you know how it is right after Yule."

The girl nodded. "I know, you were always lucky to spend more than a few hours home that morning… You got the picture of the ball I sent you, didn't you?"

She nodded. "It looked like you had fun."

"Oh, I did! I got to dance… and the food was delicious! It was such fun!"

"That's good," she said, happy Susan had had a nice evening. "And how are the Abbotts?" she asked as the pair headed deeper into the house arm in arm.

"They're good, they said to tell you Happy Christmas, and to tell you to stop by on New Year's before things get strange."

Amelia chuckled. "I'll tell you what, I'll just go over when you do, and we can spend that time together there till I'm called in. Until then I'm all yours."

Her niece smiled up at her. "Really? You don't need to go back to the Ministry?" Her aunt nodded. "That sounds great!"

Her aunt took a deep breath, thinking, 'Well here goes nothing…' "But before we start, we need to have a talk."


	27. Chapter 27

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 27**

"Tell me what you know of the Potter brat," said the portly, balding man as he entered the small second floor reading area. He didn't give the other person a glance as he moved, sitting in the second of a pair of chairs across from the fire and poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on the side table.

"Why do you wish to know?" asked the woman as she closed her book and set it gently between herself and the arm of her large wingback chair. "You have showed little interest in him, or any of my other information, before," she said calmly, as she lay her head back against the plush leather and shut her dark almond shaped eyes. "I tried speaking with you after that fiasco with the elder Malfoy during his first year, and several times after the fact. Yet you always seemed less than interested. What changed?"

The older man didn't speak for a long moment as he sipped deeply of his tea, then began. "Black is selling off much of his family's holdings in many magical businesses, and shifting his family's influence away from some of the more, as he put it, questionable areas. Many of those are important to my business associates. I have been doing what I can but I need leverage, a way to force him to, if not stop them, at the least slow his movements as other arrangements are made," he said, taking another sip.

"He is disrupting our-" he began only to be cut off.

"Your!" she said with anger. "You and _YOUR_ friends' plans! A possibility that should have been evident from the moment he arrived in the Wizengamot wearing the Black family Lordship ring in the company of _another_ Potter! But you listened to Malfoy, did you not? And his boast that it was not something to be worried over because his son was the presumptive heir?"

He slammed the cup back onto the table. "How were we to know-"

She looked at him with an accusing eye as she cut him off again. "That Malfoy was a blustering fool? That Black would call that farce of a marriage into question? That Malfoy's own son would run from his side when he did? My dear brother that has been evident to me since I first met that sycophant when he was shilling for that moronic supposed Dark Lord!"

"How dare you!" he raged, his hand moving toward his wand, only to see hers raise from her far side already in her grip.

"How dare I?" she said coolly as a spell left her wand. He felt his robes stiffen and jerk as they stuck tightly to the chair, making it all but impossible to even take a breath, and his wand clattered from his fingers to the floor.

"How dare you?" she hissed. "How dare you squander what is left of our family's fortune to try and garner favor with the likes of those fools!"

"They are Purebloods! They-"

She cut him off again. "They are FOOLS!" she yelled, casting a silence bubble around the man's chair with a flip of her wrist. "How many pureblood families did they destroy on the orders of that man?" she demanded, sitting forward and bringing her face into the light of the fire.

Charity Burbage's eyes blazed in anger. "Had you spent more time watching and learning you would not have found yourself in such a predicament!"

His eyes widened, as he struggled against his rebelling clothing. She chuckled as he did, standing and stepping so her shadow fell across him. "I may not be able to attack you directly, per your orders, however your _clothing_ is another thing entirely, _dear_ brother! Our father asked me to begin teaching at Hogwarts for a _reason_!" she spat. "Not only was it to continue to watch the movements of Dumbledore, but to watch and tell him about those that were passing through those halls, and how they interacted with each other!"

She continued to finger her wand, a small smile creeping over her face. "I was a resource to this family! Right up to the time your moronic Dark Lord killed Father!"

His eyes grew even wider, and his struggles doubled. How had she found out?

"Oh don't think I, and Father didn't know when you took his filthy mark!" she growled. "He knew it was only a matter of time, and so did I!" Her eyes seemed to darken even more. "But what we did not expect was for you to betray your family and to link our family to that… That … thing!"

She turned towards the fire, picked up the poker and stirred the embers gently. "Oh he spoke with eloquence, that much was true, but it was all hollow. Just words. He did not care about the Purebloods or their traditions, he just wished to rule, or kill," she said in a sad voice.

"Did you know I was to marry?" she asked softly, her voice lost in memory. "He was a Prewett. He was handsome, my Fabian, and strong. Father had given his blessing. You see Father knew a secret, one that few knew. The Prewetts were an old family, one that only needed to petition for their peerage as they held all of the other requirements. My child would have been born a Lord! Or would at have least been able to hold the name and title for the next generation! We had speent years laying the ground work!"

She turned back to him still holding the hot poker. "But now that is lost, not just to me but to them as well, as there are no other males in the family to produce the next needed generation of the name Prewett to add it to the rolls. Molly is a Weasley, and she chose to married for love and not to obtain the potential legacy of her family.. as for Muriel… well she never had any intent on marrying."

He was beginning to sweat, his eyes glued to the hot end of the poker in her hand.

"Your casual dismissal of me after Father's death, as well as the ridiculous stipend you reduced me to, left me with little choice but to continue working at Hogwarts and bide my time. Waiting," she said, depositing the poker back on the stand.

"Do you wish to know what I learned there?" She looked at him again, her hands crossed in front of her. "Your master was doomed to fail."

The relief in his eyes stemming from the fact that his sister had relinquished her hold upon the hot piece of iron, was replaced with rage at her words. "He was playing a game that could only have two outcomes… One, he would garner the attention of the muggles..."

She paused with a sigh as she saw the look of defiance enter her brother's eyes. "They may not have the ability to use magic _but_ they significantly outnumber us. They would be an endless tide crashing against us, wearing us away and your master would have been just as bad eating away internally, killing any who dared to have a different opinion or a thought of their own, and gutting families of their daughters to buy the favor of his chosen through the fleeting pleasure they provided."

She shook her head. "Or two, Dumbledore would have eventually been forced to show some part of his true power and and crush him."

She smiled at her brother's confusion. "Oh trust me, your little master would have fallen at his hand in the blink of an eye, because his trust lay within the wrong people."

At that point she carefully pulled out a pendant watch on a delicate chain to look at it, and replaced it. "In case you're wondering what that burning in your stomach is, that is the poison you drank," she said with a small grin.

"I have been waiting for you to come visit me ever since I retuned home for the hols," she continued. "You always did prefer to confront me here, at about this time… Perhaps you thought me less aware as I read before bed?" she asked, not expecting an answer from the silenced man. "I did so hope you would visit me here before I returned to Hogwarts, I even set out a tea service just for you!" She said with a chuckle.

"Well, no matter," she said, waving a hand. "You will just pay your toll a little earlier than that of your friends, but don't fret they will join you soon enough."

She knelt in front of him watching his face happily as the pain associated with the poison gripped him causing him to spasm. "The COLD is coming and none of them shall escape it."

* * *

Sue had been lying on the bed looking at the ceiling for some time, quiet. "So…" her best friend asked from where she usually lay on the floor when they were together looking through magazines and listening to the wizarding wireless, though of late that had been replaced with a non-magical radio. "What do you think… About all of this?" Hannah asked.

Susan sighed. "I-" she began then fell silent. "I don't know," she said softly.

She paused again, her mind running through what her Aunty had explained first to her then again when they talked with the Abbotts.

Hannah made a noncommittal sound from the floor. "At least Mum and Da will be able to have more protection now."

Sue's face scrunched up. "I know your family are Vassals now… But I don't want things to change between us, you know I've always thought of you as a sister," she said, rolling onto her side so she could see her best friend.

Hannah nodded, looking up and meeting her eyes. "I know, I feel the same… but I am glad they will be able to add to the wards and things now. We'll be at Hogwarts and we know that is safe, but…" She dropped her eyes. "Some of what your aunt told us…" She shuddered. "And that kidnapping attempt."

Sue nodded flopping back. "I know… I also know she didn't tell us everything… There is more to this than just the Death Eaters on the move again, and Lestrange on the loose, I just know it!" she grumbled.

"I know…" Hannah agreed. "But I imagine there is just so much she could say, even with the Bones family magic, and us being your Vassals."

"I guess..." Sue said dejectedly. "She wanted us to know enough for us to be serious about the things she is going to arrange for us to learn… she wants us able to protect ourselves."

"Yeah…" Hannah said as she rose from the floor. "I'm headed for bed, you need to try and get some sleep too."

"Yeah, alright," Sue said, still staring at the ceiling.

"Hannah?" Sue asked as her best friend was going out the door. "Who do you think will be training us?"

Hannah shrugged. "Maybe one of those guys that were in Hogsmead?" she said. "I'm just glad we have been working out with Harry now. I'd hate to have to start where we were back then… Maybe we can surprise them?"

Sue chuckled. "Maybe... Night Han," she said, softly.

"Night Sue," Hannah said as she pulled the door closed.

* * *

Harry was the first to arrive on the train, like always, and chose a compartment. Alex joined him a few minutes later. "Hey Harry!" She dropped into the seat next to him after pushing her trunk against the wall next to his so they could be used as benches during their trip after everyone was here.

"Hi, Alex," he said, looking up from the stack of papers he was looking at. "Did you enjoy your Hols?"

"Yeah," she said. "I met Mum and Da for a couple of days in Cardiff. It was good to see them."

Harry nodded. "What you looking at?" she asked.

"Briefing materials and orders," he said, "Dad gave them to me this morning."

"Oh?" she said, her brow raising. "Well we'll need to look at them later, saw several families arriving."

"Right," he said, folding them up and placing them in one of the hidden compartments along with an activated security seal. "We have lots to talk about when we are in the chamber."

She sighed. "Have anything to do with the new orders?" she asked.

He nodded as he sat again. "Yeah… we'll talk about it later… I want to talk to Croaker too… A valid point was made that led to these orders.. but I don't think it was given all due consideration."

He glanced toward the door when he heard a thump. "You can read them for yourself later," he said, turning to the door as it slid open and the first of their friends arrived.


	28. Chapter 28

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 28**

Alex smiled as she stood just outside the Hufflepuff entrance; it was a long time since she had last been inside the badgers den. She pondered entering the normal way for a moment. When she had been a student here she would have thought nothing of it having just nicked off for a snack down the hall in the kitchens, but today with the new emphasis on student safety? She figured that would be a bad idea.

So instead she slipped her wand into what looked like a natural space made by the barrel that formed the entrance, and heard a small 'click' and stepped out of the way to let it open.

Once inside, she allowed herself a moment to look around, as memories of her time here flew through her mind. Her smile grew wider as she did. Shaking her head to help chase those memories away, she made her way to the girls' dorms.

It didn't take long for her to find her quarry. Flipping her wand into her hand she cast a silencing charm in a wide circle around the young woman's bed and pushed back her hood. She checked her new appearance in a hand mirror to make sure the DMLE badge she had been given was in plain sight, before opening the curtains.

"Ms. Abbott? You need to wake up," she said softly, trying not to startle the other.

The young woman stirred slowly as she spoke. "Wa-"

"You need to get up, Ms. Abbott, then wake Ms. Bones. It is time for your first lesson."

"Lesson?" the bleary eyed girl questioned, as she sat up. "What time-"

"Just before two, now get up and gather your friend," Alex said, moving away. "I shall wait for you in the common room. You have five minutes before I leave and inform Madam Bones you do not wish to continue."

Alex smirked as the girls entered the common room almost four minutes later, disheveled, but fully dressed. "Right you two, let's be off."

Susan's hand went out and stopped her friend, her wand pointing at Alex as she did. "Who-"

"Put that away girl!" Alex snarled. "Ice Blossom! I didn't think that would be necessary here! We are in the bloody Badgers Den of Hogwarts!... But good on you for being careful."

Sue nodded, and slowly put away her wand. "My aunt told us to expect someone…"

"And that would be me, come on you lot. We need to go, places to be," she said, gesturing towards the doorway.

The pair of girls went out ahead of her. "So what do we call you?" Hannah asked.

"Glenda. You can call me Glenda," she said, as she began to lead them away.

"What the two of you will see tonight is not to be spoken about, to anyone at anytime… not even when you think you are alone here. Not even to each other. Understood? These halls have ears."

The two girls nodded, in unison. "I want to hear you say it," she said.

"We understand," they replied.

"Good. This way," she said, walking into the second floor girls' bathroom. "I don't want either of you to try and enter the passage I am about to show you on your own, unless the school is in danger and being attacked. Understood?"

The girls answered in the affirmative again, as she opened the passage behind the sinks and walked down. "Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets."

* * *

Harry watched the progress of the group on the new Marauders Map, built into the coffee table of the chamber's seating area. "Right, they are on their way down," he said, standing. "You ready?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes Harry."

"Right, now remember don't look to me for answers. I'm supposed to be here to learn this as well, right?" She nodded again. "Good. Now let's get ready," he said, shutting off the map.

Alex/Glenda led her two charges into the chamber proper and gestured toward the sitting area occupied by two others. "Harry? Hermione?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Hi, Sue," Hermione said, as they walked over and she gave each girl a quick hug. "So what do you think?"

"About what?" asked Susan, looking around stunned. "About the Chamber of Secrets? Or the fact that the two of you are here?"

Alex stepped in at that moment. "Quiet the lot of you, and sit down. We have a lot to get through tonight, and you all need to get back to bed as soon as you can."

Complying immediately they returned to the seating area.

"We normally won't be meeting like this, in the middle of the night," she said. "I did this because I needed you all together at a time when no one would notice. From this point on it will be up to you to gather at 7:00am Sunday morning where the entrance I showed you is, and again on Wednesday evening at 6:00pm, and the sessions will run two hours. If you can't make it for any reason tell one of the others. Understood?"

The group nodded. "Good. Now, as I said, this chamber is off limits unless the school is under direct attack. You are not to try to gain entrance for any other reason!" she said sternly. "If I find out one of you has tried you will not like the consequences!"

Letting them go after a brief tour, as well as a statement of ' _NOT YOUR BUSINESS_!' as to why such a facility was under Hogwarts, she dismissed them and returned them to their Houses.

* * *

Alex flopped, boneless, on the couch next to Hermione in the Gryffindor Common room, glancing at her watch. Half past three… at least tomorrow was Sunday and she could kip in. "Damn I'm tired."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, so am I… How do you think they will do?"

Alex shrugged. "They were surprised by what they saw and what they will be learning, but they are Puffs. They will adapt and work hard."

"I'm going to talk with my dad, we'll need to arrange for the two of them and Hermione to continue their training during the summer… And do something about their wands," he said.

"Then you'll need to tell my father you're training me…" Hermione said softly.

Harry sighed. "I'll think of something… but at the moment I have other things more pressing. How is the diving going?"

"Good," Alex said. "She's doing fine with everything, now it will just be a matter of repetition and practice."

Harry smiled at Hermione. "That's great, I think you will enjoy diving… when it's not for a tournament... in Scotland... in the middle of February," he said with a chuckle. "It's very relaxing and beautiful."

She nodded. "I hope to do a little this summer…my father can dive, I thought I'd surprise him."

"That sounds like fun," he said, turning back to Alex. "Q's package is supposed to be in the boathouse Monday night. We need to make plans to go down and take care of that."

"Q?" Hermione asked.

"Our Quartermaster," Harry answered. "He is letting me borrow a couple of toys that will let me map the bottom of the lake."

She nodded. "Will you need any help?" she asked.

"No we've got it..." She looked disappointed. "We'll need to do it in the early morning hours, to keep from being seen by those staying on the ship, you can cover for us if we are late to the exercises.

She nodded as Harry stood. "Alright let's get some sleep."

* * *

Harry sat staring out of the window as the sun came up, chasing the shadows from the grounds around Hogwarts.

Today was the day, the day of the second task. Sighing he stood when he heard Neville come back in from the bathroom. "You about ready Nev?" he asked.

"Yeah, Harry. Just let me put this stuff up… You want to wait on Ron and the others?" asked Neville.

"I need to go ahead and eat," he said, picking up the bag he had prepared for today. "I want to go over everything one more time."

Neville nodded. "Go on down to the common room," he said. "I'll tell them and be down in a second."

Harry nodded. "Right."

When he reached the stairs he found Parvati standing by the entrance looking nervous.

"They're not in the room are they?" he asked with a sigh, already knowing the answer.

"No," she said shaking her head. "It's just like you thought."

He nodded. "This is so stupid!" he said, shaking his head. "Who in their right mind would even arrange something so dumb? I mean, really? Come on! Let's arrange for a ridiculously dangerous contest, one that not even fully trained Aurors would want to go through and place a bunch of kids not even out of school, into it!"

"One where they need to fight a nesting dragon for one of its eggs, alone!" he ranted, "Then let's take more students hostage and put them on the bottom of a large deep lake in the middle of February! Hell, no one is even going to be able to see what happens down there! So you lot are just going to twiddle your damn thumbs looking at the surface for an hour! This is so stupid!"

She didn't even bother to correct his language, as she agreed with him. "I know Harry," she said, wrapping her arms around him, something rather daring for her but she had seen both Alex and Hermione do it before. "You need to stay calm, and not get upset."

He took a deep breath, the tingling scent of jasmine in his nose. "You're right. Thanks Par."

She looked at him oddly as she let go. "Par?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry Parvati…" he said.

"No," she replied with a smile. "It's fine, that's what my sister calls me when we are alone. You just never addressed me so familiarly before…"

He thought about it a moment. "No I guess I haven't-"

"Ready to go down?" asked the voice of Neville as he appeared, and trotted down the stairs.

"Yeah, let's go," Harry answered, as they headed out.


	29. Chapter 29

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 29**

Harry watched from the small dock surrounding the stands that had been erected for the second task, as an angry Fleur yelled at the tall woman who was the Headmistress of her school then stomped her way down the pathway to join the other gathered champions.

"You!" she said pointing at Harry. "You knew! Why did you not tell me they would take _my_ sister?" she screamed as she approached, a tiny flicker of blue flame appearing in her hand.

Harry didn't back up despite the primal urge. "Sister?" he asked. "They took our dates… Why didn't they take yours?"

The flame in her left hand became a more solid ball. "How should I know! You seem to be the one that…"

Harry's hand flashed out capturing her left wrist as she brought it up and forward in a slapping motion, and he looked directly in her eyes. "Fleur! You need to get a hold of yourself! I didn't know anything about them taking your sister! I didn't even know for a fact that they were going to take our dates!" he growled.

"I only suspected! And I warned you!" he continued. "Then I went so far as inform the Hogwarts staff, as they had not even been told by the Ministry… If I were to guess only Dumbledore knew here before he left!"

"I have two very good friends down there!" he said as he let her wrist go and gathered the older girl into a hug. "You need to calm down," he whispered in her ear. "Stick close to me… I have a plan. We'll have them back safe and sound before you know it."

She pulled away from his warm embrace, her eyes brimming with tears. "I don't… You have a plan?"

He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes firmly on hers. "I do. I don't want to see any of the people down there hurt, especially for anything as stupid as this game."

Cedric stepped up next to him. "Fleur, you may not know this, but Harry is the scion of the Black family, as well as the head of the Potters… and one of those people down there is a ward of his."

Her eyes widened as they moved back and forth between the two. "Who?" she asked.

Harry sighed. "Hermione… Her becoming a ward of house Black was an accident… Her father tasked me with looking after her after an incident, and our magic took it from there..."

"And they still took her?" she asked, her mouth agape.

"It's not exactly something we go about telling people Fleur," he said.

Cedric chuckled. "But it is not something you exactly hide either Harry, she made quite a stir when she showed up at Madam Marta's."

Harry smirked. "Yeah, well, that was to be expected right?"

Cedric broke out in a laugh. "It was, a muggleborn going to Marta's and being presented like a pureblood, it was the talk of the town… Madam Marta even had two people withdraw because of it."

Harry's eyes grew hard. "She didn't say anything about that," he growled.

Cedric shook his head. "She wouldn't… she's friends with my grandmum, that's the only way I know. She said it has happened before…"

Harry nodded slowly, his mind already working on a plan to offset her losses. "Anyway," he said, turning back toward the distraught woman. "Yes, I have a plan. As soon as I had an idea of what they were planning I started working on it."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "And it all starts with what is in this bag." He tapped the large canvas bag at his feet with a toe.

* * *

Madam Maxime made her way to the podium and stood with the other headmasters. "Fleur is quite angry about this turn of events, as am I!"

Headmistress McGonagall sighed as she spoke. "As are we all. We, like you, did not expect the goblet to select her as the hostage based on a single dance with her sister after she managed to slip into the Great Hall. It was completely unexpected."

Maxine nodded. "I understand, truly, and she has been scolded for her part in creating the problem, but something such this should not have been possible."

"Your students have no one to blame but themselves," groused Karkaroff.

"Why, because she danced at a ball with her little sister when she turned up?" Maxime snapped. "Nonsense! Gabriele may have been in the wrong to have done as she had, but we are at fault for not finding such a loophole!"

Amelia Bones stepped in at that point. "Peace, all of you. Steps have been taken to see that all of the hostages come through this unharmed."

Madam Maxime sighed again. "So I understand, but it was hard enough telling those girls' parents about what was happening this morning, if something were to happen to their youngest…"

"We have done our best to see that nothing does," Madam Bones replied.

"I just hope it was enough," Said Maxime with a sad tone.

* * *

Fleur watched as the young man in front of her adjusted the strange cylinders on his back and then moved on to several other pieces he had added to his strange bathing costume, which appeared to be made of some form of strange thick but flexible material, and large oddly floppy things on his feet.

"Harry?" Cedric asked. "What is all of that?"

Harry chuckled. "Muggle diving gear," he said with a shrug.

The eyes of those around him grew wider, as he finished up by kneeling and rinsing out his mask. As he stood and gave them a shrug, he spoke. "Look I had a lot of help looking for spells and things to do this, and this ended up being the best choice… I've got a rune based talisman to help with the cold… and I wasn't positive about the viability of me using the bubble head charm for such a long time, as my core isn't as mature as you lots' are… Especially as it is not something even taught, for that reason, till much later… The only other choice we found was the Gillyweed Neville found and all our research showed it was unpredictable in duration when ingested by someone that had not reached their final maturity."

The rest of the champions looked at each other then back towards Harry. "Besides, this is something I'm comfortable with… and gave me a couple of more options as well," he said, picking up the remaining cylinder by one of the odd shaped handles with a grunt. "Let's do this, stay as close to me as you can, we'll worry about racing back once we have reached our people."

The champions looked at each other and gave a quick nod, following the youngest champion to the starting area.

Filius smiled when he saw Harry approaching. "I trust everything is functioning properly for you Mr. Potter?" asked the diminutive man, knowing full well that Harry had left nothing to chance with his own equipment let alone with the equipment that he had helped them procure for the people below the surface.

"In perfect order sir," he said.

"Good, line up at the marked positions, once the Minister and Ludo have completed their introductions," he said, gesturing to the speaking men in front of he stands. "A cannon charm will signal you to begin. Good luck to you all."

When the cannon blast sounded all of them were in the water within moments...

Harry by simply stepping off the edge and dropping directly down, while holding his mask in place and then tugging the large extra cylinder in after him.

Fleur whipped off her robes, exposing her silver one piece bathing costume for the first time. With a flip of her wrist she cast a quick succession of spells then dove gracefully into the water.

Cedric was close behind her, doing much the same before disappearing beneath the surface.

Krum, however, had chosen to try something somewhat different and only paused to remove his outer robes before diving in.

Harry took a moment beneath the surface to orient himself and test his air supply once more, before reaching down and cracking the chemical light on his waist, making he area around him glow a soft green.

Pulling the cylinder he had carried into the water in front of him he grasped the grips on ether side and triggered the small electrical engine, setting the propeller in motion and shooting forward, catching the two free swimming champions in front of him quickly.

He looked around for the third as he moved into the lead, when a large shadow passed over his head. He came close to screaming as the shape of a Great White Shark came into view, only for it to dodge suddenly to its side to show the back half was that of Victor Krum.

Looking wide eyed at the other champions, a look they also shared, he relaxed minutely as the odd looking transformed wizard began making slow loops around them.

Shaking his head he turned back to the task at hand and tugged the trigger of the sea scooter, causing it to pull him deeper into the depths, the other champions following closely.

Shortly he reached toward the center console of the scooter and flipped a small stud, a small screen lit up with a pulsing light to one side. He smiled, the homer was working just as they had planned.

He turned to the people behind him and pointed into the darkness, before twisting his body slightly, to point the water scooter in the appropriate direction.

Long minutes seemed to pass as they continued into the inky blackness. He checked his air gauge; he had begun with two full tanks, more than enough, but he knew from experience that a stressful dive used more air than a person may realize. So far so good. He checked his watch; they were just over fifteen minutes into the task.

Harry was amazed as they began to pass over what appeared to be a forest of seaweed, if it had been any other time he may have been tempted to investigate further.

Suddenly flashes of light drew his attention. Turning he saw Fleur and Cedric under assault from what looked like small pinkish colored octopi, they had drifted somewhat lower than he had toward the seaweed. In his mind's eye he saw the page on them that had been in he file Croaker had prepared on the dangers of Black Lake, Grindylows.

Generally they were considered pests, only dangerous to the very young or infirm or, as in this case, great numbers. Harry's eyes widened as the swarm continued to grow.

Cedric proved to be the luckier of the pair, as he had not been as close and Krum's sudden pass through the crowd disrupted them enough for him to make his way out of the seaweed.

Harry growled into his regulator as he spun on the spot, pointing the sea scooter's nose down below the swarm and pulled the secondary trigger, sending a twin trail of bubbles out of small tubes hidden in the bottom.

Seconds later small explosions came from deep in the sea weed as the oxygen pellets ruptured sending a cascade of bubbles into the swarm above, scattering the cloud. Harry rushed to the injured girl's side and had her safely away before they could regroup.

Harry gripped her tightly as he moved them a safer distance away. He could see she was barely couscous and having trouble breathing, worried that her charms were on the verge of collapse he removed his rescue harness and fastened it around her and pulled the tab, rapidly filling it with air and sending her toward the surface, promising himself he would see her sister safely back in her arms personally.

Harry then checked he direction of the homer and turned his sea scooter back toward the depths.

He glanced toward the two remaining champions; Cedric was looking little worse for wear, though tired, but seemed determined to continue. As for Krum… well that he just had no way to judge.

It wasn't much further when they began to hear singing in the distance and Krum immediately shot off in that direction, leaving the remaining pair behind. Glancing over his shoulder toward Cedric he saw the older boy wave him onward. Giving him the thumbs up he depressed the trigger for the motor further and zoomed into the darkness.

Harry arrived just in time to watch Krum's awkward pass to use his shark like teeth to grab and cut the line that held Hermione tethered to the bottom. His breath had caught in his throat as all he could see at first was what looked like Krum pulling her away by her leg.

He shook his head when he saw the tether in his mouth, as they disappeared into the darkness surrounding the village.

Moving quickly he moved to Alex and examined her. She was floating in some form of suspended state. Shrugging to himself he pulled the knife loose from the scabbard on his calf and cut the line, then using a D-ring on his harness he attached himself to her.

Knowing that Fleur would not be coming he moved toward the one figure he did not know.

A younger looking blond girl, an almost perfect miniature version of her sister was floating in the light current in front of him. As he moved forward the merpeople did as well, their tridents held in a threatening manner. "One only!" one of them seemed to sing in a harsh tone.

Harry glared at the fish like person, wishing he had a way to communicate with them.

His frustration turned into a smirk as he reached behind Alex and grasped an object he knew was placed with each contestant.

In short order he had the mask over the girls face and flooded with life giving air. He watched as she began to stir, her eyes fluttering open.

As soon as he was sure she was fully awake, he made his intentions known through his gestures and released the D-ring from her belt. She nodded and gave him a thumb's up, as she began her ascent.

He watched her float upward for a moment before moving once more towards Fleur's sister, only to be blocked once again.

Frustrated he pointed toward the girl and then back towards the darkness and shook his head, as Cedric passed by with Cho in his arms, giving him a concerned look and tapping his watch.

Harry glanced at his own, he only had fifteen minutes! He grabbed his air gauge next, checking out of reflex, he still had plenty but his margin of error was shrinking fast!

Grimacing he acted as if he were moving away. He would only have one chance at this.

He extracted the last pair of oxygen pellets from the sea scooter's weapon and placed them gently between the fingers on his left hand, careful to keep away from the manual plungers and making sure he could still operate the sea scooter, he then attached one of the pair of D-ring clasps from his harness to the small ring at the rear of the scooter.

Next he pointed the sea scooter so he would pass close to the girl and he fully depressed the trigger.

His father had told him once about using this particular mode at one time and how violent it had been as it shot him through the water during a pitched underwater battle between the forces of S.P.E.C.T.E.R and the American frogmen assigned to recover a stolen nuclear weapon.

In the end he had said it was just something that he would need to experience to understand, and should only be used as a last resort.

As it was Harry felt as if the harness he was wearing was trying to pull through his body as the Sea Scooter shot forward trailing a mist of bubbles at nearly twice the speed it was capable of with the motor alone.

He knew this would only last for a short burst as Q had been forced to use a much smaller tank from the original to make it more portable, but for this it should be enough.

In the blink of an eye, he was next to the young girl and had sliced her tether free, pulled her tight against her body and wrapped himself tightly around her.

As he did he released the oxygen pellets from his other hand and depressed the controller fully again shooting directly up this time, in another extreme burst of speed.

Bubbles erupted in a plume behind them, and a little off to the side, soon after.

A smile grew on his face as he caught up to Alex and slowed, allowing her to grasp hold and be carried along toward the pier as well as the surface.


	30. Chapter 30

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 30**

Harry hefted himself onto the pier after handing up the last of his gear to Alex, his smile wide as he watched the reunion between Fleur and her sister, only to have his said mood dashed by the sound of an unwelcome voice.

"Hem, hem!" it began, sounding much too close to the croak of a toad. "Lord Potter, you will turn all of that…" She waved her hand toward the pile of gear on the pier… "over to me immediately and then accompany these aurors to the Ministry, consider yourself under arrest."

Harry gave her a confused look. "And may I ask why, Madam Umbridge?"

She harrumphed at him looking disgusted. "You must know it is illegal to charm muggle objects! Just because you have taken up your Lordship does not place you above the law!"

Harry chuckled. "Ah… I am sorry to disappoint you Madam, but the only object here that is charmed, enchanted or any way magical is this," he said, pulling a stone attached to a leather cord from under his wetsuit. "The warming charm I bought in Hogsmead-"

"Do you expect me to believe that?" she shrieked cutting him off.

He stood straight at that point. "Personally I don't care what you believe!" he snapped back. " _ALL_ of this equipment is muggle made! Not a bit of magic was used at all! My father bought it all in London!"

"We'll just see about that!" the woman spat. "Weasley! Do your job!"

Arthur Weasley gave him an apologetic smile then went to work with his wand. Moments later he turned towards the Undersecretary. "He told you the truth Madam Undersecretary," he said with a small shrug. "There is no magic on any of those objects."

"I don't believe it!" she growled. "Do your duty Aurors! Arrest Lord Potter, as well as Mr. Weasley, for conspiracy to defraud the Ministry!"

A voice cut in from behind her. "Dolores, I hope I did not just hear you give orders to my Aurors," it said with an angry tone.

Dolores Umbridge snapped around only to end up coming face to face with an aggravated Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE. "You should have been the one here taking care of this!" she cackled. "I have only been doing the job you would refuse to do! You can't just protect the boy because of the relationship you are in with Black!"

Amelia's eyebrows creased in anger. "That is LORD Black to you Madam! Just as I am the LADY Bones until Susan comes of age!" she said sternly. "As for those objects, they were arranged for by Harry's father, a muggle, in a shop, run by muggles, and transported here by the Headmistress of Hogwarts at Lord Potter's request."

She took another step forward, forcing the smaller toad like woman to step back. "Then kept, by her, in her office under lock and key, until he received them this morning!"

Madam Umbridge eyed the younger woman speculatively. "And just why do you know so much about them?"

Amelia smirked. "Lord Potter asked for the DMLE's help in determining if it would be legal to use this equipment during the tournament, and it was, as long as none of it was enchanted in any way. All of what he used today was completely legal, including the warming charm, as it was not placed on any of his muggle equipment."

Dolores glared at each of them in turn, then sniffed. "Fine! I'll be watching," she said before storming away.

"Lord what an unpleasant woman," Harry said once she was out of earshot.

Amelia nodded. "True… Anyway, congratulations on finishing the third task, Harry. You know the Delacour girl would have been fine if you had left her down there, we made sure someone was watching nearby."

Harry shrugged as he tugged the bag back around the cylinders and hoisted it onto his shoulder with a grunt. "Wasn't going to leave it to chance, she wasn't meant to be there… she just wanted to see the ball."

Amelia nodded. "Granted." She shook her head.

Harry started walking towards the shore. "Stupid idea having hostages… the clue said something not someone."

"Yes," she said, "but the spell on the goblet is for a hostage… 'it's tradition'," she said in a mocking tone.

Harry shook his head. "Stupid tradition."

"No argument from me," she said. "Still, you can be proud of what you did, though I don't think you made many friends with the merfolk."

"None of them were hurt were they?" he asked, somewhat nervous.

She shook her head. "No Harry they are all fine, just startled."

He nodded. "Good, I was hoping that was the case."

She smiled at him as they walked. "You did good Harry, what say we go get your score?"

* * *

Harry sat heavily on the bench seat at the Gryffindor table, sagging somewhat as he did; it had been a long day.

"Congratulations Harry," said Ginny from across and down the table a few spaces. Several other voices followed suit. "You should be proud. You may have gotten third place but you finished."

Harry shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said, dismissal in his voice. "I was more interested in all of us getting out of the lake without injury… Fleur was just unlucky to have been closer to the grindylow pod than the others."

"Is she okay?" asked the small red head.

"She'll be fine," he said. "Madam Pomfrey has been taking care of her. They left her with some nasty lash like marks, where their toxin irritated her skin…. Seems she's allergic to it. Madam Pomfrey said she'd be okay by morning."

"And her sister?" Hermione asked.

"Sitting with her," he said with a shrug. "She's going to stay in the hospital wing with her tonight."

Hermione nodded. "Good, that place is depressing… well I guess all hospitals are."

Harry chuckled in agreement. "Too true, but-"

"You should have won!" growled another redhead from down the table, banging his fist on the table as he spoke. "But you helped them! You should have just-"

"Ron shut your gob!" Ginny yelled at her brother. "And swallow before you speak! That's disgusting!"

Harry looked down the table towards him. "Ron, I wanted to be sure we _all_ made it out of there!"

Ron glared at him, food forgotten in front of him for the moment. "They would have been fine!"

"Really?" Harry asked angrily. "Hermione, you did almost all of the research about the tournament, what do you say about that?"

She gave a deep sigh. "Two of the hostages died in the last tournament, one poisoned the other eaten during the task, by the wyvern the contestants were supposed to rescue them from…"

"And _that_ is why I wouldn't leave them there!" Harry snapped. "I wasn't about to leave two of my best friends, and fellow Gryffindors, a fellow classmate, or a visiting second year at the bottom of a lake during a dangerous tournament! Despite any extra precautions! My god man! She wasn't even supposed to be at the damn ball! And you think I should have left her in that position? THINK!"

Harry took a breath and began again. "That's not even counting how dangerous it is to dive like that in the first place! I've been trained, and still check and recheck my equipment over and over just in case! And the very _**first**_ rule is to never do so alone! It is just that dangerous!"

Ron looked down his ears turning red. "And all for the sake of some stupid game? Some so called glory? And a handful of galleons? Don't be stupid!" Harry said finally. "A life is worth a hell of a lot more than just that!"

"Well said young man," said a voice with a heavy French accent from somewhere behind him.

Turning towards said voice Harry found himself looking up at a trio of figures, two of which were smiling down at him, while the third glared at the now fuming redhead further down the table.

"Headmistress?" Harry said, drawing her attention away from Ron.

"Ah, yes," she said, as she realigned her thoughts. "Lord Potter," The man's eyebrow rose just a touch at that revelation... "May I please introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Delacour, Fleur and Gabriele's parents."

Harry quickly wiped his mouth and stood extending his hand. "Pleased to meet you sir, ma'am."

A moment later he found himself in the embrace of a very happy mother. "Thank you young man for watching over our daughters," she said, releasing after giving him a quick peck on each cheek.

"I did what I felt was necessary, that is all, ma'am.," he said, fighting a slight blush.

"Nonsense, Lord Potter," the man said, clapping his shoulder with a heavy hand. "You took action when you saw Fleur in danger, then went beyond what anyone could have expected when you found Gabriele. For that you have our profound thanks."

"T-thank you sir, but really it's fine," he said.

"We heard the entire story from Fleur; we just came from visiting her and her sister. Is it true that you told her of your suspicions before the Yule Ball?"

Harry sighed. "It is," he said, nodding. "I and my friends," he said, gesturing to the group that had gathered to eat together, "including those not in Gryffindor have done a lot of research into past tournaments to try to get an insight into what some of the tasks this time would be."

He looked at the group at the table, and several others that made their way toward the table once Harry had stood.

Another boy, this one with dark brown hair and a little taller than Harry had moved to stand just a step or two to his right hand side and a step behind, a spot from where he could offer support if necessary, or bear witness, whichever was needed.

"And I take it you did not like what you found?" he asked.

"Not at all, sir," Harry replied with a shrug. "This contest, to me, seems ill conceived at best. To risk the lives of these schools' students just seems… wrong."

The man nodded. "And I agree with you, but I think some of those in charge may have missed the reason it was originally cancelled, especially with the decision to use the goblet… I believe that the wish to adhere to old traditions won out over rationality."

The man took a deep breath. "But that is not a discussion for a place such as this. I just wanted to meet the man who did such a service for my family, and offer my thanks, as well as an invitation for you and your family to visit over the summer break. I would very much like to meet those who raised such an impressive young man."

Harry smiled. "I will pass along the invitation to my father. He quite enjoys visiting France and does so often. We may be able to work something out."

Mr. Delecour smiled. "Then I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again Lord Potter."

"You are quite welcome sir," Harry replied.

With a nod the trio of adults made their way out of the great hall.


	31. Chapter 31

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 31**

Patricia sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers on the desk in front of her. 'Three months!' she groused mentally as she glared at the stack of folders she had been recently looking through.

"Three _BLOODY_ months!" she growled softly, giving voice to her pent up frustration.

In all that time they had learned exactly nothing about this group, Cold!

She stood quickly, sending her chair rolling into the wall behind her with a sharp clunk as she moved toward the window and looked out onto the streets of London below.

She had been going through everything they had on the organization again, trying to find something… Anything they could use to identify more about their plan, as well as their time table.

They had widened their scope over the intervening months as to what they may have been looking for, presuming that it would at the very least involve weapons of some form as well as explosives.

Originally they had been on the lookout for attacks on military or police caches, but now they were also considering private security, construction, and even purchase from the black market.

She shook her head and sighed. 'This is getting us nowhere,' she thought 'We're over thinking this.'

Sitting back in her chair she took a sip of her now cold coffee.

'If she was going to do such an attack how would she go about procurement?' she pondered, looking at the map marked with the location of the three proposed targets, 'When in doubt start at the beginning.'

"I'm looking to cause the destruction of a school and possibly mass casualties…" she said in a mutter. "As well as make a statement… And I don't believe they would try for more than one target… they were already too far behind in procurement for the attacks to be so wide spread…"

She glanced up to the northern section of the map where the pip denoting Durmstrang sat and marked it off with a swipe. "Only half of the student body, and in the middle of nowhere…"

She moved on to the south, toward Beauxbatons. "Better," she said in a whisper. "Not far from a large magical community… but again only half its students…"

"So, Hogwarts it is!" she said with some conviction, circling its spot on the map. "Now where would I go for weapons and explosives… It needs to be nearby... or at least someplace easily transported… and quickly..."

Her finger traced the rail line south out of the mountains and down towards Perth. "The 154th Regiment… they are a recon section… quick vehicles all easily transported by train… they have several depots in the area… I need to see what they have on hand…"

She stood quickly and made her way down the hall away from her office.

* * *

Harry turned his head, looking behind him toward the shore. Watching as Susan Bones walked down what remained of the pier from the tournament towards him, he continued to speak as she came closer. "-well if you're sure, sir."

She stopped when the young man she was coming to speak with held up a hand in a stopping motion, and pointed to the strange cylindrical object in his grip.

"Thank you, sir," he said after a short pause. "Again I am sorry for any problems I may have caused…" His voice fell away as he seemed to be listening to something,

Moments later he chuckled. "I guess I could… No sir no problem, it will just take a few days for them to arrive, most likely a week or a little longer."

He paused again. "I'll keep that in mind sir. And thank you again for your time."

Susan watched stunned as a mer-man's hand appeared from the water just past where Harry was sitting and passed him what looked like a large silver egg attached to a metallic wand. In the same motion the hand waved and then disappeared back into the depths.

She was still watching, her mouth hanging open as he stood and began pulling the long vine like cording from the water. "H-Harry what were you doing?'

"Apologizing to the Mer-folk," he said with a shrug. "I had to do some things down there during the task, and I was worried some of them were hurt by what I did…"

She looked at him in confusion, so he explained. "I was trying to get both Alex and Fleur's sister away from their village, and to cover my escape I used a supply of compressed gas canisters, they produce masses of bubbles churning the water in the area…. It seems the Mer-folk thought they were quite fun," he said with a chuckle. "They even asked for more… I think they are planning to use them in some form of celebration."

"Evidently getting churned and bumped by bubbles of compressed oxygen is great fun and leaves them with a slightly euphoric feeling because of the extra oxygen in their blood… who knew?" he said, as he finished rolling up the cords and collected the microphones and a tool-box sized metal case.

"And that stuff let you speak with them?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's called a Hydrophone. It was developed during WWII… Originally, and I guess today as well, they are used on submarines to listen to what is going on around them. Smaller versions like these," he said, gesturing to the equipment he was carrying, are used by ship maintenance teams when they are working on a ship at dock. So the team in the water can hear instructions from a group above the water line."

"This one however is one a Marine Biologist would use to work with dolphins, seals or whales, as they can give instructions and listen for a reply from the water as well," he said as they began walking back toward the castle.

"And how did you get it?" she asked.

"My father, he knows several scientists. One of them arranged for me to be able to borrow this for a 'class project' and Sirius brought it up. He'll take it back in a couple of days."

She nodded; muggles did the strangest things. Who needed to talk with a fish?

"Did you need something?" he asked after they walked in silence for a short time.

Susan sighed. "Yeah, I-" She paused for a moment then spoke again. "I wanted to talk to you… clear the air so to speak."

Harry gave her a questioning look. "I don't know if you know… but I've been staying at your grandfather's ranch in Spain during the summer… and I've been writing him as well. I like him, he's very kind."

Harry nodded his head. Of course he had known, his grandfather had told him the moment she had started to question him about Harry. "He may have said something about it."

She looked at him with a small amount of embarrassment. "He is my grandfather, of course he is going to take the chance to tease me when a lovely young lady starts grilling him about me."

She smiled at that, and blushed deeply. "Okay, yeah… It is really beautiful there."

"I'm glad you enjoy it," he said. "And I hope Hannah and her family did as well," he added as they continued walking.

"She loves it, especially the horses," she said, her own grin widening at the mention of the majestic creatures.

"According to Poppy, she's not the only one," he said, grinning as well.

She blushed again and shrugged. "They are beautiful," she said. "Anyway, I was wondering why you don't spend more time there."

Harry shrugged. "I only have so much time during the summer, and most of the time it is just easier if he comes and meets me elsewhere. He often goes with us on our family trips."

Susan nodded. "He told me some about your travels, like when you went to Hawaii, then to California… It sounded fun."

Harry's mind raced to the details they had prepared as cover for that 'trip' when he and Alex had actually been training. "They have beautiful beaches there, and the people are very pleasant, as well as the most amazing sunsets… I have some pictures… someplace. I'd need to find them when I got home."

She shook her head. "No… That's fine. We are planning to stay there again this summer, Auntie is arranging someone to go with us to help us train… I was wondering if you would like to join us? And Hermione too, of course."

Harry shrugged. "I'll need to see what all is being planned, but it could be fun."

Her smile brightened, as she suddenly came to her tip toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "That would be great Harry, let us know yeah?" she said, as she disappeared into the castle.

He chuckled lightly as he made his way back towards the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

"Wormtail?" a strangled soft voice said from the large leather chair in front of the fireplace. "Is all prepared?"

"Yes, my Lord," replied the man still standing in the doorway rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Are you certain Wormtail?" the voice asked. "There is no margin for error… Your life depends on it!"

The man fought from making an audible gulp as his hand came to his throat. "It is all prepared my Lord."

"Very well… and Dumbledore?" the voice asked in a whisper.

"H-he hasn't been seen since he left Hogwarts my Lord," the man responded. "There are some that believe he is traveling the continent, while others believe he has withdrawn from public view because of illness."

A dark chuckle filled the air. "No the man is not ill, of that you may be assured. I must know the moment he begins to move anew, make sure that this happens!"

"Yes, of course my Lord," he said in a rush.

"Tell me of the others Wormtail."

This time he could not strangle the sound, and a gulp escaped him; his Master was going to be less than pleased. "I gather it is not good news then, Wormtail?"

"No my Lord," said the nervous man. "As you know I have been searching for you, on the continent, for some time…"

"I know EXACTLY how long you looked for me!" said the angry voice. "Do not try my patience further! Get on with it!"

Wormtail took an unconscious step back away from his Master, only for his heel to collide with the body of his Master's familiar, a gigantic snake, which looked at him with its cold dead eyes as he glanced down.

"O-of course my Lord," he sputtered.

"Many of them have been lost to us," he began after taking a moment to settle himself. "Malfoy, Rookwood, MacNair, Yaxley, Avery, Travers, Jugson and Snape are all dead. "

"WHAT!" screamed the raspy voice. "How did that many of my most trusted die?"

The portly man cringed, almost collapsing in on himself, only the fear of what his Master would do if he failed to answer kept him on his feet. "Bellatrix, after her escape-"

"My Bella is free?" asked the voice.

"She is my Lord," he replied.

"Hmmmm… as useful as having her here could be, I can not risk any of her more… impulsive behaviors drawing attention to me in my still weakened condition. Continue Wormtail,." he said.

Wormtail swallowed. "After her escape, she went after the Longbottom child, and Malfoy accompanied her."

"And he was killed in this attempt?" the voice asked.

"He was my Lord," Wormtail responded.

"Fool!" the voice said. "There was a reason I never sent him on such errands, his skills lay in different arenas… at least we will still have access to his fortune-"

"I am sorry my Lord," Wormtail said, falling to his knees and praying that his Master would not take his anger out on him with this next news. "But his fortune is lost as well."

There was only silence from the other side of the room for several long breaths, till one word came from the hidden voice. "EXPLAIN!"

Knowing his Master was on the verge of exploding in anger Wormtail did so. "It was Black sir! When he was freed from Azkaban he annulled the m-marriage of Malfoy and his cousin, and then called in all of the debts owed to the Blacks… Many of your followers found their purses lighter after that."

"Lucius would not be fool enough to lose everything! His child! Tell me of the boy!" said the voice filled with anger.

"I-I do not know my Lord, but he is no longer at Hogwarts." said Wormtail in a squeak.

A grumble of frustration came from the voice. "And the others?"

"I- I have not had a chance to look into many of the others' deaths," he said trembling. "Just Severus. He was sent to Azkaban recently… Where he died."

"Why was he sent to prison?" asked the voice, confused. "I would have thought Dumbledore would have protected his 'spy'."

"I do not know Master," said Wormtail.

"Very well. Go Wormtail, I need to know more!" he said dismissively.

Not one to tempt fate Peter Pettigrew, otherwise known as Wormtail, scurried from the room.

"Malfoy, Rookwood, MacNair, Yaxley, Avery, Travers, Jugson and Snape…" said the voice. "All dead… How? I must think on this," he said to no one. "Nagini come, I must feed."


	32. Chapter 32

_**I apologize for the lateness of this chapter but several factors have kept me from my regular schedule. Hopefully there will be no further delays.**_

 **Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 32**

Patricia slapped the folder closed and pushed it away from her, the 154th had just recently been deployed for wargames and would not return before the third task, taking the bulk of their armory with them.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Well, that is a bust," she muttered under her breath.

"Problems my dear?" asked an older man with a receding hairline and a combover. His suit looked as if he had recently slept in it, and knowing the individual well that was likely.

"Q!" she said with a smile. "Just doing some research." She gestured toward the small stack of folders. "Unfortunately, it's not going as well as I hoped." A scowl replaced the smile.

"Ah well, that sometime happens…" he said, offering her a reassuring smile, "Perhaps you need to take a break, come at it from a different angle?"

She pondered his words for a moment, as she stared at the desk in front of her.

'A different angle…That's what I've spent all day doing!' she groused mentally. 'I mean if I was going to attack Hogwarts….' Her brain paused.

Major Boothroyd, the head of the Quartermaster branch (therefore the current holder of the denotation of Q), watched as the younger woman worked through the problem before her again, something he himself had done often and encouraged those in his department to do as well.

Her eyes widened. 'We've spent to much time thinking about _our_ type of weapons…'

"Q, what can you tell me about the explosives of the second world?" she asked.

* * *

Alex, in her guise as the gathered group's trainer, eyed the teens speculatively. "Alright, we're going to start from the beginning. Susan, what is the most lethal spell that you currently know?"

The girl's brows rose in surprise, as she glanced around at the others sitting in the small gathering area of the Chamber of Secrets. "L-Lethal?" she stammered. "I- I don't know any lethal spells!" she protested.

Alex quirked her own brow. "Really? You can't cast a cutting curse?"

"B-but that just cuts things… like cloth!" she replied quickly.

"So does a knife," The older woman answered. "Can you kill someone with a knife?"

"Of… of course," she said, realization slowly dawning on her.

"Then, in the same way, you could do so with a cutting curse," she said as she turned toward Hermione. "And you?"

Hermione pondered the question for a moment. "Vanishment," she said finally.

Alex had to give the girl some respect for her answer, even if it wasn't something she had expected. Nodding slowly she broke into a smile. "Very good! Not many would even consider such a thing. Can anyone think of why she said Vanishment?"

A horror stricken Hannah nodded, and spoke. "Even if it was a small area... the trauma to the person would most likely be fatal… my Uncle was angry and overpowered a vanish once… it hit their cat…" Her voice trailed off.

Alex cringed. "Ahhh…" She faltered. "I'm sorry you had to see that Hannah, that is a particularly nasty way for something to be killed… As it proves very difficult to stop the bleeding quickly…" she said, as Susan hugged her friend.

After a moment Alex continued. "The point is, there are very few spells that can not be used in a lethal way, even something that would normally be considered benign like a tickling curse has the potential if held for an extended period…. The first rule is _never_ allow anyone to point a wand at you! The second is to never point your wand at someone unless you are defending yourself."

The teens nodded. "The same goes for one of these," she said reaching behind her back and pulling her pistol from its holster, bringing it out so they could see.

"I've been told that you have visited the muggle world several times, as well as the war museum so you have most likely seen a gun," she said, watching the two young witches more closely than Harry or Hermione for recognition. "This is a pistol from the Glock company, a model 23, there is a smaller version as well, the model 27, chambered in the .40 S&W. You will be learning to shoot both of them, as well as how to use your wand and advanced hand to hand combat to defend yourselves."

Both of their eyes widened in surprise; it was Susan that gave voice to their question first. "What? Why?"

The older woman unloaded the weapon as she spoke. "They are tools to help you survive, that is what I am here to teach you. You will learn not only self defense from me, but also evasion and escape techniques."

Laying the clip to the side she cycled the slide then handed the weapon, butt first, to Susan. "You, my dear, are what is known as a High Priority Target. Not only is your aunt/guardian the head of the DMLE, but you are also the last of your line, one of the great families."

"And Mr. Potter, here," She gestured to the only male present, "Is the last of another, as well as Scion to one, making him a power house politically, and Major Target at the same time."

"As for the other two of you," she continued, gesturing for Susan to pass the weapon to her friend once she had looked at it. "You are sworn vassals to those houses, someone that can not only be trusted with their secrets, but have a vested interest in their survival as well. Therefore you will be trained to help them get out of any trouble they find themselves in."

She paused for a moment as Hannah looked down at the weapon in her hands. "If any of you don't think you can do so now is the time to speak up. I'll take you back upstairs and nothing more will be said."

Hannah kept her head down in thought as she passed the pistol to Hermione. "I-I don't know if I could…. Kill anyone," she said softly.

The older woman knelt in front of her, and brought her chin up so she could look her in the face. "Hopefully it will never come to that," she said, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "But you need to also think about if you could do it, not only to protect your own life, but that of Susan or your parents."

The young woman nodded slowly. "I-I'll think about it."

Alex stood again. "See that you do," she said, stepping back. "But at the moment we are going to start with something that it would not hurt you to know even if you choose not to continue, basic wand and gun safety."

She retrieved the pistol from Harry's hands, as she continued. "Third rule, always consider a pistol loaded, it is a weapon not a toy."

* * *

Patricia sat back in her chair, rocking slightly. "So are you telling me that they don't have any form of explosives?" she asked.

Q sighed. "They do have some gunpowder based products but they are in the form of fireworks… they have had a smokeless form for far longer than we have… Truth told they just have not had much use for it, most of what we would use them for, such as dynamite or even C4 they can use spells for… Even the Americans seem to have few from what information we have, they tend to use non-magical varieties, just as we are."

She sighed and sat forward, her chair squeaking as she did. "Damn… back to the drawing board! I just can't seem to figure out where COLD is going to find whatever equipment they are going to use in the attack we believe is coming on Hogwarts…" she said absently. "We've just about exhausted our options otherwise… I thought we may have overlooked something from their world."

"An attack? On Hogwarts?..." he asked, the thoughts whirling in his head.

"I didn't say there was nothing that could be used as an explosive," Q said after a moment, with a smirk. "I just said there were no _formal_ explosives. They have plenty of things that will explode."

She looked up at him in surprise. "Wait! What? You said-"

"I know what I said, my dear," he said, sitting down across from her. "You need to be careful what you ask for when you want information about that world. While they do not have many powerful formal explosives, such as C4, they do have many things that could be used to achieve the same effects."

He paused to give that a moment to sink in. "You would consider many of them to be of the improvised versions."

She nodded slowly. While they had considered such a thing from a mundane angle, this was something else they had failed to consider from a magical angle.

He continued, "Several potions can be quite volatile, even in small quantities… and it is even theoretically possible to create an explosive rune cluster, mitigating the necessity for a physical explosive entirely," he said with a shrug. " They just have never had such a need."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "An explosive without the explosive?" she asked in a whispered voice.

He nodded. "It would be undetectable, other than visually, though very difficult I would think, and most likely limited in power by whatever material it was placed on… If my understanding is correct."

"We... We need to talk with someone about this… who do we have available that would be the best to talk to?"

He chuckled. "You'll need to talk to Romulus and Remus. If it has the possibility to explode they will know… and have most likely done it at some point."

"Romulus and Remus?"

He nodded. "New recruits you have yet to meet. I'll make the arrangements, it will be a few hours," he said, looking at his watch. "They will be in their lab early tomorrow as it is Sunday… You probably should get some rest, I expect you will have a lot to talk to them about. Be here about eight," he said, standing and making his way out of the room.


	33. Chapter 33

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Sorry if it is a little short but I didn't want to start the final task here... so on with the show!**

 **Chapter 33**

Patricia walked in to the large conference room, making sure each of the individuals she had asked for had arrived. She then nodded her thanks to M and gestured to the two seats that were going to be to her left as she sat.

The pair of young red headed men that had followed her in, looking quite nervous, sat and tried to keep from fidgeting.

Once they were seated Patricia spoke. "By your leave ma'am."

M nodded.

"I have asked you all to gather here today because we have a serious issue and not much time to come up with a viable solution," she continued, as her gaze made its way around the table.

"Late last year a group we only know as _Cold_ came to our attention," she said. "The small amount we know about them and their actions is contained in the folders in front of you. Please open them now."

There was a rustling of paper as the gathered group complied and broke the seals on the folders.

"This group has been positively linked with two major actions, the destruction of British Airways flight 229 en route from London to Washington DC, 374 souls lost; and the destruction of the mortuary they were using as a cover in Rome."

She noted the wide, shocked eyes of the two young men to her left at the statement and continued. "They have also been positively linked to three other known brutal murders, all of this done to cover their interest in a list that was stolen from them and sold on the black market."

Amelia Bones looked up from her folder. "Black Market?"

Pat shrugged. "Think of it like the non-magical version of your Knockturn Alley, almost anything can be bought there… for the right price."

Amelia nodded as the woman continued. "This list was obtained by the American AI, Arcane Investigation, and was due to be transported on the doomed Flight 229."

"Arcane Investigations?" growled Moody in a questioning manner.

It was James that spoke instead of Patricia. "We have recently been able to open some minor lanes of communications with those countries outside the ICW, and while they are still wary they are willing to work with us."

The gruff older man grunted with his nod. "Better than nothing, they have every right to be leery."

The others around the table nodded, only the two youngest members looking confused. "Why?" they asked in tandem.

James eyed the young men. "That will be part of your briefing over the summer, for now we need to keep our focus on the matters at hand."

The twins looked at each other then at the older man and nodded.

Pat took that as the cue to get the discussion back on track. "This list was made available to us soon after. It was a list of magical schools from around the world. Between our investigation and their information it was made plain to us everything from outside the ICW was incorrect but it was correct in the assessment of those schools within the ICW. Further investigation leads us to believe it came directly from the ICW files."

Amelia looked perplexed. "And why would this group want this information."

M spoke at that point. "We believe they wished to use it in the coordination of an attack."

"An attack?" she asked, looking shocked. "They want to attack a school?"

Mr. Gold, otherwise known as King Ragnarok, turned a page in the file as he spoke. "And you believe that this attack will be at Hogwarts? During the final task of the tournament?"

"We do," Pat responded. "I personally heard them plotting the attack, prior to the destruction of the mortuary, and while the actual target was never named, references were made to the list as well as how their attack timetable was in motion, as well as how it would be affected by its theft and the adjustments necessary due to the discipline, and subsequent death, of key personnel."

David Granger had already finished scanning the operation folder and closed it. "Hogwarts would be the prime target at this time. Representatives from two other schools in attendance, its reputation as the 'safest place' in wizarding Britain… I expect a number of dignitaries from France and Bulgaria will be in attendance as well for the third task?"

Croaker nodded from his place at the table, in agreement with Amelia as she spoke. "They will, as well as those from other ICW member countries and the press."

"A perfect storm then," David Granger said, his mind working through what he knew of the school's layout. "Where is the event being held? Outdoors I expect… like the second task?"

Amelia nodded again. "The Quidditch pitch is being converted to a hedge maze as we speak, and my Aurors are tasked with security."

M broke in before she could continue. "How far have you gotten in the investigation of your Aurors?"

Amelia turned her grey eyes toward the head of MI6. "We have almost completed seventy percent of the force at the moment, we are almost a month ahead of our schedule for completion."

M grunted. "It will have to do. See if you can slowly shift the schedules of those not yet complete so that they will not be part of the force deployed to Hogwarts the day of the third task."

She nodded. "That won't be a problem."

Patricia spoke again once she was sure M was finished. "We know that they were in the process of obtaining whatever operational equipment they need, and their leader was concerned with their ability to secure it in time. However their operator confirmed it would be done but would cost more in funds and possibly manpower."

David Granger pondered that for a moment. "I expect then you have been checking on military as well as civilian sources?"

She nodded. "We have, for over the last several months, and we will continue to do so. Unfortunately that may have been a moot point."

She gestured to the two young men to her left. "That is why I requested that they join us this morning. May I introduce to you Romulus and Remus, they were recruited recently and have a certain expertise that may prove useful as this discussion goes forward, Magical Explosives."

* * *

Alex plopped bonelessly onto the leather couch across the small sitting area from where Harry was working. "What ya' working on Harry?" They still had some time before they needed to head upstairs from the Chamber for lunch.

He tilted the book he was making notes from so she could read the title, 'Stay Alive!' "It's something my father started working on as a side project years ago, he wanted to do a comprehensive hand to hand combat manual of styles used by intelligence, military, and law enforcement around the world… this is volume one."

Her eyes widened at that. 'VOLUME ONE!' she thought, 'that thing is almost three inches thick!' She hesitated to ask, but did so anyway. "Harry how many volumes of that are there?"

"Three," he said as he made another note. "He's working on the fourth now."

She sat there stunned. "T-there are that many?"

Harry shrugged as he sat up and looked at her. "The most important ones are in here," he said, tapping the book in front of him. "The ones you are most likely to find today."

"And you know them all?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh lord no!" he said with chuckle. "This is just a reference, a way to familiarize yourself with some of what you may face."

"Oh." Finding herself somewhat relieved, she asked, "What are you working on then?"

"Just laying out an idea," he said, passing her his notes. "I want to add more escape drills to what they are doing. I'm worried about them being physically grabbed and overpowered; adding some more judo style counters will help with that."

Alex nodded, she thought she recognized several of the diagrams he had copied from her own training with the military. "These look the same as what I was taught.'

He smiled at her. "They are, those are from the advanced manual. We'll build from there once those are added and it won't hurt Neville to learn them."

She nodded. "I saw the twins upstairs," she said.

Harry sighed as he took back the notes. "Good, I hated the idea of needing to deflect questions about where they were during lunch… again. They have been gone so often in the last month after that first meeting, people are starting to question where they are outside of class."

"Do you think they were able to figure something out?" she asked.

"I hope so," he replied, closing the notebook and moving to put his book away. "I don't like the feeling I get when I start looking at everything involved with the third task. The idea of a maze filled with traps and magical creatures was bad enough when they took us down to the Quidditch pitch for the announcement; but add in this information about _Cold_ , as well as the other possible threats?" He shook his head in dismay.

"It does seem as if things are coming to a head…" she said softly. "Do you think you are ready for the last task? I mean we've gone over everything we could but…" Her voice trailed off.

He sighed deeply. "I'd better be," he said glumly. "I only have six days left," he added as he stood. "Come on let's go get something to eat, let's try to enjoy the rest of the day today. We'll look at it all again in the morning when we are fresh."


	34. Chapter 34

**Edited by the mighty pazed!**

 **Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 34**

"Anything yet?" asked Patricia as James entered the room, his hands full of papers.

James sighed. "No, our team, as well as the goblins, have gone over the preparations as well as the venue with a fine tooth comb. They didn't find anything," he said in an aggravated tone.

"Damn!" Pat spat as she took half of the stack he was carrying and began to leaf through the afternoon communications traffic. "We're running out of time! There is just over an hour till the third task begins!"

"I know!" he grumbled. "Twenty-five Aurors are on duty in the stands and our team has taken up positions around their perimeter, and there are three units of goblin Shadow Warriors hidden within and around the grounds as well… We even have a taskforce of Apache helicopters on standby out of Kinloss Barracks under the guise of 'drills!"

"There must be something!" she said as she continued to rifle through the pages. "They are going to make their move tonight! I can feel it!"

* * *

"You ready pup?" Sirius asked, as they made their way down towards the quidditch pitch and the holding area for the champions.

Harry shrugged. "I guess we'll find out," he said softly. "Any word from Dad or Amelia?"

The older man sighed. "No… You need to try and put that out of your mind pup, they will handle it, I promise. You and the girls just need to focus on getting this last task done as soon as possible."

Harry nodded. "Right, the sooner it is done the better… it will limit their window."

"You got everything covered for that?" he asked.

Harry shrugged again. "I hope so… we have a list of everything that was put in the maze; Alex made a copy of it after sneaking into McGonagall's office. We just don't know where everything is because of the shrouding spell put over the pitch… and she'll be stationed close by to cover me, just in case."

"Hermione is in the stands, as high up as she can get with a pair of enchanted binoculars from Q, to keep an eye out and help me navigate over coms." He continued, "and Luna is in her nest monitoring everything with our research, she'll sing out if something we aren't expecting happens or if we need more information."

The older man nodded. "I'll be near the judges' box," he said. "Amelia wants me close just in case things get dicey."

Harry stopped walking and looked up at his godfather. "I wish Dad was here…" he said in a quiet voice. "I don't know if…" His voice broke off. "I'd feel better if he was here. He- He can handle anything."

"I wish he could be here too," Sirius said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. "He is able to keep a cool head in a bad situation, something most people can't do… You'll be alright Harry, he has faith in you! We all do! We'll get through this."

Harry nodded slowly and took a deep breath as he turned and walked towards the Champions' tent. "Go get 'em Pup," Sirius said as he watched him walk away.

Turning he muttered to himself, "I hope to Merlin that sounded more convincing than it felt…"

* * *

Charity Burbage smiled as she made her way through the empty hallways of Hogwarts and down the stairs towards her goal.

'It won't be long now!' she thought as she started down the stairs. 'They will reap what they have sown and I will collect the rest of my payment and be on my way!'

Her smile grew wider as she approached the wall at the far end of the hallway, away from the entrance of what had once been the dungeons and what had once been the Armory, that was now used for the squib Filch's office, work area and apartment.

Checking her watch again she settled in to wait. It was still not quite time for the tournament to begin; she would give it a further five minutes then finish her task and be on her way out of England, all with this pitiful excuse for a government not knowing that it was her that had both made them the laughing stock of the magical world and destroyed their precious school Hogwarts's reputation.

* * *

Harry stepped into the holding area and nodded to each of the champions. "Hey Harry," said Cedric as he approached. "Are you ready for this?"

Harry shrugged. He was getting sick of people asking him that question. "I hope so," he said trying to sound confident. "What about you?" he asked, indicating the group.

Krum looked aggravated as he spoke. "You will have a large lead… as will Cedric," Indicating the other young man. "My mistake in the first task and the resulting crushed eggs, has put me very far behind."

"As has my inability to complete the second task," said the beautiful blond woman with a sigh. "Though I will be doing my best to catch up once I have been allowed to enter the maze."

The Bulgarian nodded his agreement with her. "As will I. I may be at a disadvantage but I intend to still win."

Harry smiled. "Well I wish you both luck! Me? I just want this mess over!"

Cedric clapped his hand on the youngest champion's shoulder. "For someone that doesn't seem to care if they win you are doing surprisingly well," he said with a chuckle.

Harry gave a bark of laughter. "I blame my father, he gave me a wide competitive streak."

Cedric gave him a skeptical look. "If that's true, why don't you play Quidditch? I've seen you fly once or twice and I know that your house could use another good player… Goldstein isn't much of a seeker."

Harry sighed, this was another thing he had covered every year when someone in Gryffindor brought the subject up. "I just don't see the point!" he said sullenly. "No offence Vic, but the seeker position just doesn't make any sense! 150 points for catching a snitch? Too much weight is put on one player's efforts, it discounts the others' contributions too much. It's a team sport not a singles event!"

Krum looked thoughtful. "The role of the seeker is something that has been talked about before, and is something I have my own, admittedly biased, thought about, so no offence taken. And that did lead to the creation of a new game, Quadpot. It is just not as popular…

The entrance of Ludo Bagman brought their discussion, and willing distraction, to an end. "Right are you all ready?" he asked, then continued without giving them time to answer. "Good, good. Mr. Diggory, you will enter first, then Mr. Potter, followed by Ms. Delacour and finally Mr. Krum. Each of you will enter after the sound of a cannon charm given by one of the judges. If you find you cannot complete the task and are in distress, send up red sparks and someone will retrieve you. Any questions?"

Again he didn't wait for a reply, but immediately turned to leave. "Excellent! Then please follow me! We need to get the task underway! We can't get behind schedule!"

* * *

Patricia's finger stopped suddenly, a confused look grew on her face, as her finger went back to the top of the page and started down the page again. "Something…" she muttered as she scanned downward again, adding as she did. "Something is wrong here James!" she said, pulling the page out and passing it towards him. "Check my math, that total weight is wrong."

James flipped the page around and looked at the header at the top of the page, DB Cargo UK. James's mind raced, that was a new company, well the name was new; it had been the English, Welsh & Scottish Railway until recently (he had read something about it in the financial pages).

Each train's weight was closely monitored by the company, a necessity when dealing with the tonnages they were and the need to be able to control said tonnage both starting and stopping. Actually, moving any heavy traffic by rail was much more difficult than many believed.

He began quickly adding.

She was right, the weights listed by car loaded and unloaded didn't match with the tonnage paperwork. The final train weight was being shown heavier than its paperwork would lead you to believe!

"How much did you come up with?" he asked.

"Over 40,000kg… gross weight…" she whispered.

"So at least four cars worth… " he mumbled. "We need to know everything about that train!"

* * *

Harry barreled into the maze as fast as his feet could carry him. "Which way?" he asked, keying his mic.

"Left!" said a small voice in his ear. "Cedric has already encountered his first obstacle, and beaten it, the nest of doxies. If you hurry you can get through them before they recover!"

"Roger!" he said, sprinting down the pathway. "Let me know when to turn, and when the others enter!"

* * *

Charity looked at her watch again - ten minutes past six. "That will be plenty of time," she thought as she walked to the wall and placed the palm of her hand on a Hogwarts symbol next to a wall sconce. "Hogwarts is in danger!" she said, as she forced magic into the symbol.

With that one declaration things around the ancient castle began to happen. She smiled as she felt the magic around her begin to shift. 'Even now,' she thought, 'the castle is beginning to seal itself! Windows and doors slamming shut preparing to defend against any possible invasion!'

"I guess it _is_ a good idea for one of the full time teachers with such clearance to be in the castle at all times! And, I guess it is a good thing I volunteered!" she said to no one in particular and then broke into a cackle as she continued to work.

With a loud click, a doorway opened causing the lit sconce to slide about two feet to the right. She quickly made her way down the now exposed stairs.

* * *

Luna listened as the rest of Harry's people reported in, each giving the all clear, as well as to Hermione's directions. It was all so fascinating, though unfortunately there seemed to be little else she could help with.

Suddenly she found herself falling! No longer was she in her nest but sliding downward, spinning sharply to the left and coming to a stop flat on her back, looking up at what she quickly recognized as the Ravenclaw common room.

She was quickly on her feet and running for the passage out, she had to get back to her nest! They were counting on her! Harry needed her!

She slammed into the doorway at a full sprint, knocking the wind out of herself and ending up once again sprawled out on the floor.

Gasping for breath she pushed her way to her knees and tried the doorway againIt wouldn't budge. The sound of wood slamming against wood brought her attention back to the room. As she watched another slam sounded from a window and shutters covered them from the outside.

Her head swiveled as the sound was repeated and the same thing happened to the other windows.

Clawing her way to her feet she went to the closest one and tried to push it open.

Nothing! She was trapped!

She shook her head, 'NO! She couldn't let herself think that way!' she thought. 'There had to be something she could do!'

* * *

At the bottom Charity paused and pulled a moleskin bag from inside her robes and began pulling long, half cylinder shaped sticks out and setting them to the side carefully.

She had been shown how to do this a couple of times, and even done it once herself, but these muggle things unnerved her. Unfortunately she knew that she would never be able to magically blast her way through the vault-like stone doorway before her alone, and there was no way any of the other foolish teachers here would have agreed to help her with this task, so this was the only way.

She had been assured that these breaching charges would do the job even if the stone was several feet thick. She had openly laughed at the man until he had shown her exactly how effective these 'shaped charges' could be.

She carefully pulled the clear film off each one as she placed them on the wall, making sure they were stuck firmly, just as she had been shown, then placed the odd triangle shaped ones at each corner. Once she was sure they were in place she pushed the thin sticklike charges into the triangles and retreated up the stairway.

Seconds later the floor beneath her shook.

* * *

Minerva shivered as she watched Victor prepare to enter the maze, she shook as if a cold wind had hit her suddenly, then looked around, her eyes landing on the castle in the distance.

"Minerva?" the diminutive man asked from next to her. "Is something wrong?"

She looked down at him for a moment then back toward the castle. "I-I don't know… something… Something is happening in the castle. Something is activating one of the wards."

He looked surprised. "Really?" he asked, his eyes looking that way. "Charity is there, do you think she can handle it… or do you wish me to check on it? I don't believe you can leave until the task is complete."

She suddenly looked ashen. "Yes please… Please hurry," she said, clasping her chest. "Something…" Her eyes rolled back into her head and she toppled over onto the floor of the box.

"Minerva!" the little man cried as he hopped down to try and give his long time friend aid.

* * *

"Four tanker cars and one of the backup engines are missing from the yard!" yelled Bill Tanner as he ran into the situation room."

"Get me eyes on the rail spur that runs towards Hogwarts!" James yelled. "Get those Apaches in the air! I want them over that spur in twenty minutes!"

"That's not all!" Bill said, throwing a stack of papers on the table. "There were three large heavy lift sky crane helicopters due in at Inverness for refueling on their way to help with building an oil platform out at sea north of Scotland! They never made it! And the company said they never ordered them!"

"Damn it!" said James, slamming his hand down. "How could we miss that? Get that information to our pilots! See what else is in the area as well! Find them!"


	35. Chapter 35

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 35**

Charity Burbage chuckled to herself as she looked at the destruction caused by the muggle explosives. "Impressive!" she said as she swished her wand, moving some of the larger pieces out of the way so she could move into the room beyond.

She paused for a moment looking at the arrangement of twenty softly glowing stones in front of her, the rune stones that controlled and supported the Hogwarts wards, and while she did not understand much about such things she knew that they were in a delicately maintained balance… one she intended to break.

Reaching once more into her moleskin bag she pulled out another set of sticks and began setting them up on the floor in what she approximated was the center of the room.

A short time later she was on her way up the stairs as the ground shook, causing her to stumble. A wide smile blossomed across her face as she spun on her heel and disappeared with a loud crack.

* * *

Amelia's eyes widened as she turned and saw Minerva collapsing on the ground and the cry of her oldest friend for help as he tried to keep her from hitting her head as she fell. Her eyes immediately began scanning the crowd even as her hand moved to her ear to shield it from the growing roar of the people around her.

"Leia all! Condition Red! Seeker down! Report!" she said, over her coms, as she motioned to Shacklebolt to let Poppy through.

A voice broke in on hers almost as she spoke. "One all! Map down!"

"What?" she yelled, turning toward Sirius.

"Repeat! One all! Map Down! We're blind!" said the voice.

"Sirius, you're with me!" she said, standing and moving towards the box exit. "Leia all, clearing VIPs," she yelled, as she gave the signal to the guards around the box. "Report, if you see anything."

A voice crackled into existence.

"Eight, Leia! The wards just flared! The wards are down!"

She stumbled to a stop at the edge of the judges' box. "Bollocks!" She glanced at the maze, then back toward the crowd around her. They were defenseless! How?

She pounded her fist on the railing.

"Leia, ALL! We are evacuating! Hogwarts is compromised!" she yelled.

* * *

Harry was barreling down one of the maze passages, it was just wide enough for him to pass without his shoulder touching and towered over him by at least a dozen feet. He took a breath as he came to a T intersection.

"Which way?" he asked.

"I don't know!" she said frustrated. "It's shifting again! Who in the hell thought a maze that can change its shape would be a good idea? This is ridiculous! You could be lost in there for days!"

"Yeah, I'm sick of this!" he replied in between gasps for air. "Stupid boggart!" he said under his breath thinking of the last obstacle that had found its way into his path.

"What do you see Harry?" she asked as she scanned the new shape in the top of the hedges around where he was.

He looked to his right. "Some kind of golden mist… The other way is just darkness…" He placed his wand across the palm of his hand and muttered, "Point me, Tri-wizard cup."

The wand spun twice on its axis then settled pointing toward the hedge in front of him and slightly to the right.

"My wand points kind of to the right," he said, hoping it would help.

"Right…" she said, still scanning the patterns. "Luna?" she asked. "What do we have on a golden mist?"

After a moment with no rely she tried again. "Luna? Are you there?"

Still nothing. Harry tried, "Luna?"

Hermione dropped the omnioculars and looked around, seeing a commotion happening in the judges' box. "Something's wrong, Harry!" she said. "Luna wouldn't leave the nest without saying something! And now there is something going on in the judges' box!"

Harry cursed. "Hermione, I need you to listen closely! I'm going to change frequencies to tactical, I'll be right back! I promise!"

"I'll do it!" said Alex. "You two keep working on getting him out of there!"

"Roger," Harry replied. "Working on it…", he went with his gut, turned right and began to run.

Alex fumbled for the small pack that held her small radio and adjusted the selector to the bandwidth that had been selected for tactical. There she found pandemonium.

* * *

Luna suddenly found herself in near darkness as the magical sconces on the walls all but went out, only giving off the barest amounts of a flicker.

"Lumos," she muttered, causing the tip of her wand to glow enough to see more clearly.

"Well that's not good," she said to herself as she moved toward the door again.

Pushing on it gently she was somewhat surprised when it swung open easily.

"No, not good at all!" she said softly.

Taking a deep breath she stepped out into the hallway.

* * *

Harry panted slightly and shook his head, trying to dislodge the feeling of nausea that had been brought about by the mist. Everything had been upside down and backwards in there! Push had pulled, up was down, left moved him right, disconcerting to say the least.

"I'm ou-" he began, only for his words to be cutoff by a deafening roar from somewhere deeper in the maze. "What the hell?"

"HARRY! RUN!" Hermione screamed, over the radio.

He didn't hesitate and began running down the path; seconds later a crash came from behind him.

Glancing back his eyes widened, 'That's a Sphinx! What the hell is it fighting with?'

Whatever it was it was large and had fur, feathers… And scales?

As fast as the fighting pair appeared they disappeared, tumbling in a growling ball through the hedges, destroying them as they went.

"What the hell were these people thinking?" he asked no one in particular, as he came to a halt.

Moving back along the pathway he peered down the lane of destruction left by the creatures. Already he could see the hedges trying to repair the damage.

"H-Harry? Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the warning," he added, stepping toward the opening.

"Good," she replied, relief evident in her voice. "Go through the hole Harry, the way they came from! If you hurry you'll be able to get almost to the center of the maze!" she said.

Shaking off his amazement he broke into a run along the path of destruction the battling creatures had made.

"Hurry, I-I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to stay here Harry. It looks like they are starting to move people out of the stands!" she said.

"Then go!" Harry snapped. "I'll make do!"

"B-but Harry-" she tried.

"Damn it Mia! Go!" he ordered. "Get safe! Things are going to get worse!" He paused, slowing somewhat. "Please Mia… go. I'll be ok. I'll get through this, you'll see."

There was a long moment before he heard her reply. "Fine! Okay! I'll go!" Resigning herself, she stood. "Don't you die on me Harry," she said softly, but he could hear her already moving.

He jogged towards the next hole only to see a blond headed woman appear from somewhere down another pathway. "Fleur?"

"Harry?" she said spinning to face him, her wand coming to bear.

Harry held up his hands in a stop motion. "What did this?" she asked indicating the destroyed hedges.

"A Sphinx… it was fighting something. I couldn't make out what though," he said.

Her eyes went wide. "A Sphinx?"

He nodded. "They went that way," he said, pointing back the way he had come as he trotted up next to her. "The cup is that-Down!" he yelled, tackling the woman to the ground as a blue bolt of magic sizzled over them.

* * *

Alex was listening intently to the calls on the radio, trying to make sense of them, as the wall of green just to her left exploded, knocking her from her feet.

She went sprawling across the ground, the radio and all thoughts of staying hidden under Harry's cloak driven from her, as she stared up at the red bodied monstrosity that had just come blasting through the row of hedges.

It looked like a huge heavily armored crab crossed with scorpion. A blast-ended skrewt. The last time she had seen one of these things they had not been close to this size! Big as a large dog, sure not a problem! But now? No way! Not when they were as tall as a horse!

"Damn it Hagrid!" she growled, watching the thing warily as it scurried around. She gathered her feet below her.

This hellish offspring of a crab and a manticore was loose! Outside the maze! She keyed her mike. "Glenda All! EMERGENCY! REPEAT EMERGENCY!" The line went quiet. "Containment on the maze is broken! A Class three creature is loose on the north side!"

A flash of fire from deeper in the maze caught her eye, as a second skrewt flew into the clearing around the maze, propelled on a pillar of fire.

"Two of them!" she said, bringing her pistol and wand to bear. "I need help people!"

* * *

Amelia grimaced. "Shadow team two to the north side! Kill anything that comes out of that maze that isn't a champion!"

She turned back to the group at her feet. "Poppy how is she?"

Poppy shook her head. "I can't wake her, and she's showing signs of shock… but I can't find any injuries."

"Can she be moved?" she asked quickly.

The elder matron nodded. "I want to get her to the hospital wing."

Amelia nodded. "Get her ready to m-"

"Boss!" Shacklebolt yelled. "The castle is sealed! We can't fall back there!"

She cursed under her breath, they were in trouble. The VIPs. Including the Minister and visiting dignitaries, were away via portkeys that would take them to the ministry, despite the Minister's objections, but there were still tons of people here, including students, spectators, and press.

What were they going to do? They couldn't take refuge in the castle, it was sealed somehow and Minerva was unconscious…

She didn't have a choice. "Tell those that can apparate the wards are down, get everyone else moving towards Hogsmeade!" she said in a rush.

* * *

Harry rolled them over, to avoid being hit by the now burning section of hedge as it fell, his eyes scanning the surrounding darkness. "Do you see anything?" he asked.

"Non!" she said, scrabbling to her feet. "That was a spell!"

Harry nodded as he stood, eyes still scanning. "Yeah."

"One of the other champions?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't think it was Diggory… Could have been Krum… I don't know him that well."

He spotted a glow of blue in the darkness again and dragged her with him into the next hedge row through the closing hole, narrowly avoiding the blast that set another chunk of plant life alight.

"We need to run!" he said, pulling her along. "I don't know what is going on but something is very wrong! Keep up with me!"

She nodded numbly as he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the darkness.

* * *

The pilot of the Apache looked over to his right scanning the horizon. They had been in the air flying southwest from their base for just over ten minutes.

"Any idea what this is about?" asked his radar operator.

"No, but they made sure we were loaded like we were going to war," he said as he shifted his sight back to the left until he could see his wingman.

"Yeah, and we even have coordinates for refueling," said the operator. "Probably just an exercise."

The man in the pilot seat shrugged, not that his partner could see it. "Most likely."

A voice crackled over his headset. "Contact fifty kilometers, going away from us."

The pilot shifted in his seat. "You got them?" he asked.

"Roger fifty KM, speed… 80 knots, I read 3 bogies… no IFF (Identify Friend or Foe)," the operator replied. "Marking them as contact Alpha, Beta, and Gamma."

"Roger that," the pilot said before keying his mike. "Contact confirmed Lead. Reading 3 Bogies. Marking them Alpha, Beta, Gamma. Making 80 knots."

"Roger," said the voice. "Let's pick it up, and take a look."


	36. Chapter 36

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 36**

Luna sighed as she looked over the edge of the chasm that had once held the gigantic moving staircases that Hogwarts was famous for, and looked sadly at the pile of smashed marble far below.

Turning away she paused a moment to consider her options, "Well so much for the quick way…" she said to the empty air. "And if the stairways have been destroyed I suspect my nest will, at the least, be inaccessible… I need to go down then… Perhaps the house elves or ghosts may be of help?"

She nodded. "Yes, the elves, that will be the best course of action, and I must do it quickly!" she said breaking into a run.

* * *

Alex rolled out of the way as one of the skrewts tried to impale her with its tail. "Merlin! What the hell? My pistol is useless against this thing!" She screamed even as she had to duck yet another strike. " _Expulso_!" she cried, pointing her wand toward the exposed chest plate of the monstrosity as it reared back to strike again and pouring as much power into it as she could. A second later she realized her choice of spell had been a mistake.

She felt her magic sailing from her body into its target much faster than she intended, leaving her feeling almost dizzy from the drain, even as she fought to end the spell.

Jerking her wand away, and gasping for air, she watched as the plate began to crack and then glow, "Oh, bugger me!" she said.

She had only seen this reaction to magic in one material, a small sliver of titanium they had been testing in the chamber. Harry had been trying something simple, changing the small pea sized piece into an equally massed needle, no real change other than shape.

Evidently titanium and magic don't mix well, and the results? Well. Those had been… energetic, to say the least.

As she stopped casting, by finally wrenching her magical connection away, she made a desperate gamble in her now weakened condition and twisted on her heel disappearing with a crack only to reappear several dozen yards away as the plate detonated with the power of a small mine, destroying the creature in a shower of gore.

She collapsed to her knees, her hands shaking and sweat pouring off of her brow. "Note to self, don't try that again! Skrewts don't mix well with that spell!"

"You did well young one! Go, back the way we came, someone will find you along the path and take you to safety!" hissed a voice from nearby making her jump, as flashes of shadow blurred past her toward the maze. "Leave the other to us the Shadow Hunters!"

She shook her head and reached toward her belt and began twisting a knob. "Sorry, can't do that. Harry- my partner is still in there… he's still in the maze, he's counting on me."

The goblin that had paused next to her looked her over dubiously. "And you are?'

"Al-" she began but caught herself, before giving her operations name instead. "Glenda! You can call me Glenda."

The goblin eyed her for a moment longer, before nodding once. "Then you may call me Balcross, wielder of the axe Kraven, Leader of the Shade Jokar," he said, thumping the blade of his large axe. "Find your partner; we will deal with the creatures," he finished.

She nodded quickly. "That's the plan!" she said as she keyed her mike. "Harry? You there?"

* * *

Fleur was startled as Harry stopped running and held a hand up to his ear. "Alex!" he said. "Thank god you're back! Things have gone to shit in here! The creatures are tearing through the walls of…"

His voice paused. 'Was he actually in communication with someone?' she thought.

"Great… Just perfect," he muttered. She took an involuntary step back when his eyes passed her way. Those eyes were no longer the eyes of the kind young man she had grown to think of as a friend but those of a predator. A man ready to kill.

"Roger that," he said a moment later. "Any chance on this contest being a no joy?" he asked in a rushed voice, as he dragged her down into a kneeling position next to him.

She moved automatically as he directed her to a position behind him, between his body and the maze.

"Roger," he finally said, lowering his hand and turning to her. "You need to make a decision, you can come with me or you can try and hide here until this is over."

She looked at him with a puzzled expression as he put his wand away and drew both hands deeper into the shadows of his robes.

"Following me could be dangerous, but someone needs to get to the center of the maze as fast as possible. My school's headmaster is down and without her, even if we send up sparks to concede it may not be valid as we are both physically able. I need to put an end to this game so we can get out of here…" His hands reappeared and her eyes widened. In his right hand was a different wand and in his left a pistol.

"This is no longer a game Fleur," he said, his eyes scanning the area. "And I won't lie to you about the danger we are in… Hogwarts is under attack."

She could feel her breath catch at that pronouncement as he continued. "Her wards are down, and her headmistress is unconscious, so there is no way to stop this tournament other than completing it."

"We already know that there is at least one person in here trying to cast potentially deadly spells and there is every chance that we will be walking into more between here and the center. I need you to make your decision right now," he said, looking toward her. "What are you going to do?"

* * *

James ran into the situation room. "Status!" he said as he approached the rotunda area that overlooked the pit of intelligence analyzers at work.

"Helo flight, call sign Echo 1, has radar contact with what we think are the targets, three heavy lift sky cranes moving at eighty knots to their southwest away from them. They are moving to verify," said a blond woman from her workstation at the back of the room.

"I want them on speaker, then connect me," he said moving to the front of the room.

There was a crackle then the voices of the flight crews filled the room. "Repeat, this is RAF Flight 6871 to unidentified aircraft you will come about immediately, this airspace is restricted."

When he had finished speaking Bond keyed his own mike. "RAF Flight 6871, this is Station Bravo Control. Command word _Caledvwlch_."

There was a long pause as the command word was verified by the flight. "Go ahead Bravo Control.

"Station Bravo has now received command of this mission, is that understood Captain?" Bond asked.

Another pause then finally, "Roger that, command change of mission has been verified."

"Status of target?" he asked.

"Heading is unchanged, speed has increased to eighty six knots," came the reply. "Six minutes till weapon intercept range at present speed."

"You are cleared for redline! You are to intercept them at your top speed!" he said. "Your target is entering code word controlled airspace! If they do not alter their course as directed by the time you enter weapons range you are to engage."

"Sir?" the captain of the flight asked a second later. "Did I hear you correctly? Engage at maximum range?"

"Roger that captain! Engage!" Bond said smacking his palm on the table for emphasis. "Knock them out of the sky!"

* * *

Luna ran down the stairs at a breakneck pace, only pausing a moment at the place she knew was the hidden entrance to the kitchen, one that was normally hidden behind a door controlled by a painting containing a basket of pears.

Catching her breath she pushed gently on the door and entered. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"What is miss doing in castle?" asked a small voice from the darkness deeper in the room.

"Something has happened," Luna began. "Something is wrong in the castle-"

"I knows," said the voice, as the small creature approached, wringing long ears harshly in her tiny hands. "Winky can't wake the other elves… Big bang happened down stairs then elves collapsed, they alive but I can't wake them…"

Luna stepped closer and knelt in front of the child like elf. "Can you show me?" she asked.

Winky nodded and turned quickly. "I brought all of them to the kitchen, even ones from the fields and green houses. None of them wake."

"All of them are Hogwarts elves, like you?" Luna asked following.

The hand wringing motion returned again. "Winky not a Hogwarts elf…" she said, looking down with tears pooling in her eyes. "Winky's…" She hiccupped. "Winky's family all passed… She have no family, and I not want to work for Hogwarts… I want a family…"

"You are a free elf?" Luna said in surprise, even as she knelt and began to look at the collapsed bodies that Winky had arranged carefully on the floor. "How long have you been without a master?"

The tiny elf looked nervous and tugged at her pillow case dress. "Before beginning of school year…" She sobbed, "Winky knew poor master died… I miss taking care of family…"

Luna smiled softly. "And you have lived here and helped at Hogwarts ever since?"

The little figure nodded. "Headmaster Kitty said that was fine," she said. "There be lots of extra magic here and… It is kind of like a family. She said I may find a new family that take me here and to tell her if I found a new family."

"I may be able to help," Luna said., "But first we need to find out what is going on here."

The little elf nodded, sending her ears flapping. "Can you go find Headmaster Kitty? She should be down at the quidditch stadium at the tournament, ask her what you can do to help. I'm going to go see what the Bang was you heard downstairs."

The elf nodded her head again then disappeared with a tiny pop.

Luna shook her head as she stood. "Poor thing, she seems lost without a family." Pondering how she could help, she made her way toward the door.

* * *

Poppy was startled as the small figure appeared next to her. "Goodness!" she cried.

"Headmaster Kitty," said the elf with a sob, wringing her ears. "Yous like the elves in the castle! Oh nos!"

Filius waved his wand quickly, muffling the roar of the crowed around them. "Winky, what did you say?"

She looked up at the small man. "Professor Fillus! She like elves in castle! They won't wake either!"

Amelia looked between the pair, as Filius spoke again. "The castle elves? They are unconscious as well?"

She nodded, her ears flapping wildly. "I took them all to kitchens. Silver haired student came, sent me to find Headmaster Kitty! Big bang came from down stairs, others fell! Didn't know what to do!"

He nodded. "You did fine Winky." He looked up at Amelia. "She's a free elf that has been working at the castle since her master passed this summer… I need to get to the castle and find out what is going on!"

Amelia nodded. "If the wards have collapsed, you should be able to apparate there."

He stood quickly. "I'll send you a message as soon as I know something," he said and spun on his heel, disappearing with a crack.

She then addressed the elf. "Can you take Poppy and the headmistress to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead without jostling them too much? Then retrieve whatever Poppy needs to help?"

The tiny figure nodded quickly. "Poppy, do what you can for her, then be ready for any injuries we find. We'll make that our aid station; have someone contact St. Mungo's with their floo and get help on the way."

Poppy nodded and disappeared as the elf touched both her and Minerva. "Roberts!" she yelled at one of her subordinates. "Get to the Three Broomsticks! You're security for the people I'm sending that way! Contact Headquarters, get additional security to St. Mungo's just in case! Jackson! You are in charge of the evacuation of the crowd from Hogsmead, the Three Broomsticks floo is for Healer use only. Use the one in Honeydukes, connect it to the Leaky Cauldron and tell Tom it's an emergency."

She stood for a moment scanning the area around her. "Come on Sirius we have work to do."

* * *

Harry peered carefully around the corner of the hedge and into the clearing he assumed marked the center of the map. "We're here," he said in a whisper.

He had almost been surprised when Fleur chose to accompany him onward and had, so far, been impressed with how well she had taken his lead and helped keep watch behind them as they made their way through the remainder of the maze.

"Then we should go quickly," she replied just as quietly. "I believe there is someone not far behind us. I saw a light down one of the passages."

Harry nodded. "Right…We need to hurry..." But he paused none the less, that feeling deep in his stomach had returned. "But we can't rush in headlong… something… something is off here, I can feel it."

Fleur's eyes darted to the young man then out back to her assignment. "We haven't run across any traps or creatures for some time," she agreed.

"But that may not mean anything… Give me a minute," he said, kneeling as he reached deep inside his cloak pulling out two objects.

The first was a cylinder with knobs on the side, which he quickly fastened under the barrel of his pistol, affixing it with practiced ease.

The second was a small box that he sat down on the ground in front of him as he stood again. "One way or another we'll know something soon."

She watched, confused as he tapped the box with his wand and it rose up into the air slightly and the top split open revealing what appeared to be a small funnel.

Before she could ask, it shot forward away from them and into the darkness of the clearing.


	37. Chapter 37

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 37**

James kept one eye on the clock and another on the green glowing dots that represented aircraft in motion over the mountains of Scotland, less than three minutes till the estimated intercept.

He glanced wordily at M, his question evident on his face she nodded.

"This is now a codeword Zeus operation under the Official Secrets Act," he announced to the room. "Anything discussed about it outside after the fact, from this point onward until the room is unsealed, will be considered treason to the crown unless under direct order of the Defense Minister in accordance with the Act!"

He watched as the guards quickly stepped outside sealing the operations room door and a red light started blinking.

'Sometimes the old ways are still the best,' he thought.

"Give me AWACS information on the main screen, and telemetry on two!" he snapped. "Then scrambler channel Bravo 6 on headset," he continued as he, M. and Pat reached for the headphones arranged on the desk. "Leave RAF on the speaker."

As soon as they were connected it was evident something was very wrong at Hogwarts as well. "Damn!" James cursed under his breath, as the line was filled with anxious voices.

"Bravo Actual, All!" he growled, keying his mike causing the line to fall silent.

"Incoming! Repeat, Incoming! You have incoming hostiles! Three airborne Bogies, from the northeast! Estimated arrival…" He glanced at the clock on the telemetry board. "Three minutes! We are attempting to intercept!"

There was a brief pause, then, "One, Bravo. Be advised defense plan one compromised! Repeat defense plan one compromised! We are evacuating! VIP's are away, all others being moved as we speak, using plan two!"

James's hands tightened on the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white. "Status?" he requested urgently, glancing at the time to intercept.

"We are unable to verify at this time," said the voice. "We are relying on radio only at the moment, all surveillance systems are offline."

'This is bad,' James thought. 'If they have lost the map then the school's wards are down!'

"Shadow one and two are reported as engaged along with Glenda at the edge of the pitch containment zone after several breaches. They are trying to push in, we are waiting for word," he said in a flat tone. "My team, as well as Lea's are helping with the evacuation via site two. I'm sorry Bravo but I have no ETA on that evacuation at the moment!"

There was a long pause. "We have had no contact with the Nest… or Strider after the loss of surveillance."

James grimaced. "Understood one…" he said, his voice hesitant. "Do your best to get those people out of there," he said pulling his headset loose.

"How long till intercept?" asked M from where she had moved to stand next to him, asking the question that had died in his throat.

"Two minutes till they reach maximum range," said a voice from the 'pit.'

* * *

Luna made her way down the darkened corridor that was shrouded in an unpleasant smelling haze, her wand held high to cast as wide a light as possible around her.

A sudden pop had her jumping and spinning to her right, only to hear a familiar voice come from the darkness. "Who's there? Charity? Is that you? Are you okay?" it asked.

"Professor Flitwick?" she gasped. "Thank goodness! Something is very wrong!"

The tip of the diminutive man's wand lit up but unlike Luna's it was more akin to a flashlight than a lamp and it flashed around the area searching before landing on her. "Ms. Lovegood? What in the name of Merlin are you doing here? I would have expected you to be with your friends at the tournament," he said.

Squinting into the light she moved towards him. "I would have been but I was helping with something Lord Potter requested me to do and was detained unavoidably."

He frowned at the young woman as he approached her. He was sure there was more to that story than she was saying but now was not the time. "Hmmmm… We'll speak about that at a later time, for the moment I need you to stay close to me and tell me what happened here."

She fell into step next to him, her wand giving the haze around them an eerie glow, while his plumbed the depths of the darkness. "I was in the Ravenclaw common room when shutters suddenly began closing over the windows. I was trying to figure out what was going on when there was a large explosion, it shook everything! I tried to get out through the entrance but it was sealed, then there was another explosion. I tried the door again and it just pushed open."

The small man nodded. "It sounds as if Professor Burbage activated the wards prior to the first explosion for some reason, that is why the shutters closed… And the door would have been sealed then as well. Those explosions worry me… please continue."

She nodded, and did so. "I then went to the Grand Staircases… they've collapsed sir."

He grimaced at that news. 'This could be very bad,' he thought. "Please go on Ms. Lovegood."

"I had to use one of the back staircases, it came out near the kitchens… that's where I found the unconscious houselves… well most of them, one was still awake, I sent her to the Headmistress…"

"Yes the young elf, Winky, came to the judges' box. That is why I am here," he said, urging her on as he led them deeper into the dungeon.

"That's about it sir," she said.

"Then you haven't seen Professor Burbage?" he asked as they arrived at a staircase leading down that was filled with dust and a metallic odor.

"No sir," she replied.

With a sigh he nodded. "Very well," he said, looking her in her eye. "I want you to stay right here. I'm going to go down and take a look around. You are not to move unless you think you are in danger. Once I have seen what has happened in the Ward Chamber I will return and escort you outside so you can join your friends."

"I'll be right here sir," she said, moving to one side of the doorway.

"Right, I'll be back as quick as I can," he said, and started downward.

* * *

Harry watched the small Decoy Detonator disappear into the darkness as he motioned for Fleur to be still and silent. Ten seconds later a loud report sounded from the darkness just off to their left, then after a five second gap came another report, then another.

Between each he strained his ears, trying to pierce the darkness… there was something… a strange sound.

After the last report he shook his head, he couldn't tell. Reaching forward and making sure the barrel was pointed down and as close to the ground as possible without touching it, he turned to Fleur.

"Things may get crazy in there," he said. "There is something or someone hidden in the darkness. I need you to follow me, with your wand ready, and remember this is no longer a game! Our lives are in danger! Stay close to me, and get to the cup. Once we get to it this tournament is over! After that we get out any way we can! Understood?"

She nodded. "Right," he said, flipping on the tactical light he had added to his pistol. "Let's go!"

He stepped forward, his pistol in one hand and wand in the other, keeping low in a crouch with Fleur's left hand lightly resting on his lower back. The high intensity Mag light pierced the darkness in front of him swinging across the clearing as they went.

Just a few steps in he spotted a glow to their left, passing between sections of the hedge. His light played in that direction but came to a stop as it passed along a silver strand just above the ground.

He froze.

'A trap wire!' flashed through his mind. The light played over it following till it passed another going a different direction.

'No… too thin,' he thought, as he found a third then a fourth. He racked his brain trying to remember the list Luna and Hermione had prepared. 'There had been something… some kind of spider… An…'

"Bollocks!" he said under his breath. "Acromantula!" he said.

A gasp came from behind him. "If you see one cast cutters!" he said. "We've got to move!"

He bolted forward following the path blazed by his flashlight towards the glow, as skitters began to come from deeper in the darkness. He pulled out a second Decoy Detonator, activated it and tossed it on the ground in front of him as they rounded the corner that he hoped would lead to the center of the maze, also hoping the trick might buy them the scant few seconds they would need.

There it was. Just feet away, on a small dais, stood the Tri-wizard cup!

As his eyes focused on his prize he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Cedric Diggory appeared from the entrance to his left, looking disheveled, a long gash leaking blood ran down his wand arm and he was gasping for breath.

Beyond him a grey form moved out of the corner; it was the size of a large dog and had black glittering eyes and large mandibles that worked as it skittered from its hidden place.

Harry's Glock barked in rapid succession, even as the Decoy Detonator erupted for the first time. Each shot impacting the advancing creature causing a splash of ichors to erupt from the monster.

Cedric's face turned towards him, his eyes widening, Harry pivoted bringing his pistol to bear on another corner firing again and again, dropping a second creature, this one appearing as if on cue from between them, as the second report from the detonator sounded and a shout and flash from a spell came from behind him.

He quickly reloaded as the second fell and he turned toward the young man. "Get to the cup! We've got to end this and get out of here!" The three teens bolted forward, each grasping for the cup.

"Unknown flight," said the leader of RAF flight 6871. "This is your final warning! You will come about immediately or be fired upon!"

He watched as his HUD (Heads Up Display) flared briefly and his sight reticle indicated the first of three vehicles was now in range. "Anything Andy?" he asked his radar operator, as he moved his weapon selector to fire a Stinger missile.

"Negative," said a voice over his head set. "All reporting targets are locked and a good tone."

"Flight this is lead," he said, dreading his next command. "Fire!"

He depressed his trigger and felt the airframe shudder slightly as the explosive bolts discharged, releasing the missile from its mount to drop momentarily into freefall before its rocket engine flared to life shooting it forward on a pillar of fire that left a streak of white smoke in its wake, two others close behind following from the other member of the flight, each on a lethal path toward their individual targets.

"Impact in thirty seconds," said the man from behind him.


	38. Chapter 38

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 38**

The missiles had scarcely left their cradles when the Flight Captain heard his Radar Operator's voice over his headset. "Trailing bogie is changing its heading!"

"Bollocks!" he said under his breath, hoping he had not just sent his missiles after aircraft that were willing to comply. "New heading?" he asked.

"He's…" The operator hesitated. "He's coming right at us! Impact in ten seconds!"

As the events unfolded he watched in stunned horror through low light attachment on his helmet, as the flares of white he associated with their missiles in flight flew into the distance.

"Impact in four…" said his Radar Operator. "three… two… One! Impact!"

Less than a blink later he found himself looking away involuntarily as the sky was filled with light. "BLOODY HELL!" he screamed as he pulled on both of the control sticks, automatically breaking away from the massive fireball.

Two switches later he was pushing the lowlight attachment up, locking it in place and rubbing his eyes, "Flight! Report!" he yelled, trying to blink away the spots.

"Locus 2, Locus 3," came over the radio, as his vision cleared.

He was stunned by what he saw; a gigantic plume of fire that had erupted from where the target had been had to be over a kilometer wide. He was still trying to make sense of the sight as he felt the pressure wave wash over his helicopter jarring it around quite heavily.

"Ha-have the other missiles made contact?" he asked.

"Negative!' came the voice of his operator. "I have negative impact on missiles two and three!" he said. "They never made it close, and they're not on my screen! The blast must have destroyed them!"

"Form up!" he growled over the radio. "I don't know what the hell those things are carrying but we can't let them get wherever they're going!"

He tipped his control yoke forward and took up the pursuit again.

* * *

Harry gritted his teeth as he felt the twisting sensation latch on to him behind his navel and yank him away from the maze, into a swirl of colors.

In seconds he found himself tumbling onto the ground. Rolling with the impact he was quickly on his feet in a tight crouch, two voices grunting from the impact alerting him that both of the other champions had managed to grab hold of the cup as well.

"Portkey..." said the male voice, even as he heard him start to gather his feet.

"Oui…." agreed Fleur. "But to where?"

He could almost hear the older boy shrug. "Wands out?" he asked.

"Quiet!" Harry hissed, waving his hand, even as another voice came out of the darkness.

"Kill the spares!" it said as a green glow appeared.

Harry moved automatically, and in a single leap knocked both of the other teens to the ground as the green bolt sizzled just above their heads.

"Stay down, and get to cover! This isn't a game anymore, someone is trying to kill us!" he growled, rolling off them.

Pulling a coin from his pocket he depressed the center and tossed it forward, toward the area the spell had come from. "That will buy you a few moments!" he said as an inky darkness obscured the night sky.

"Take this, someone will find you," he said, pressing a small silver cigarette lighter into her hand after depressing the button hidden within. "Stay together, and watch out for each other! Get to help if you can!"

They watched confused as he ran into the darkness.

* * *

Alex watched in awe as the diminutive goblin she had met outside the maze, Balcross, bounded into the midst of a battle between a sphinx and chimera, his axe in one hand and MP5 in the other.

The MP5 chattered as he ran, small spurts of blood appearing along the flank of the chimera as it did, causing the snake head that made up its tail to rear back and strike in his direction.

To her surprise he was suddenly no longer there, but a few feet to the right, his axe already in motion towards the now overextended and unprotected neck of the creature, biting deep enough that when the neck pulled back the head tumbled off in a different direction.

He was in a whirlwind of motion, each movement calculated and ending in a spurt of gore and blood.

As quick as it began it was over and the goblin was standing over the dead chimera alongside the large form of the sphinx.

"I thank you warrior," said the gasping tawny colored monster.

"You would have been victorious in the end," he said, bowing to the larger creature.

"No," it said, returning the bow. "I am beyond my prime, and the poisons from my opponent were taking their toll. Even with your aid I do not know if I have survived this encounter," it said, dropping to a knee in obvious pain.

She was approaching them slowly when her earpiece crackled to life. "Glenda, Bravo actual."

"Glenda, go," she said automatically.

"Strider's emergency beacon just activated," said M's voice. "According to that he is no longer on the grounds, can you confirm?"

"Bollocks!" she said, looking around at the destruction surrounding her. "No!" she replied simply. "Big sections of the maze are destroyed… But it doesn't seem to be trying to repair itself or shift any longer… And I can still hear fighting from elsewhere… but I still haven't made positive contact with Strider!"

"Understood; we are dispatching support as we speak." There was a slight pause. "Be advised one of the incoming bogies is down, two are still incoming! ETA ninety seconds!"

"Roger that," she said, turning to the goblin and sphinx. "We've got to get your people out of here! The air threat will be here in just over a minute…"

"A threat remains to this place?" asked the sphinx.

She nodded, barely trusting her voice talking to the monstrous creature. "By air, muggle machines are coming to destroy the school."

The creature's face seemed to darken in anger. "From which direction?" it asked, struggling to its feet.

She pointed towards the mountains behind Black Lake.

"To attack a place of children's learning… This I will not allow!" it said, lifting into the air with a beat of its mighty wings and wheeling into the direction she had pointed.

* * *

Harry removed the outer robes he had been wearing as he moved, letting them fall as he did, and assessed his surroundings.

A cemetery… 'Just perfect…' he thought morosely.

At least two opponents somewhere in the darkness, and they had been expecting them. 'Or at least one of them,' he amended mentally, going over the fact that the voice had said "kill the spares" before the attack.

He flipped the mag light off in an automatic gesture, knowing that now stealth was his priority, and pulled out his last decoy, tapping it and sending it on its way.

"One way or another I've got to buy them time to get away," he muttered under his breath and began to move, staying low among the headstones.

* * *

"New contact!" rang out from behind him.

The Flight Leader's eyes widened. "What? Where?"

"It's appeared just in front of our bogies and is closing on them fast!" his Operator cried.

"Any IFF (Identifier Friend or Foe)?" he asked hastily.

"No, it doesn't have a tag!" he replied.

"Try to raise it on the radio and lock onto it with our missile, just in case. Flight fire as soon as we are in range again!"

* * *

Amelia watched as a light appeared in the sky beyond the mountains and the Sphinx soared over their heads. "That doesn't look good…" she said under her breath. "We've got to get these people out of here…"

"The Aurors' arrest portkeys!" Sirius yelled over the roar of the crowd. "They'll take them to the ministry holding area! But at least they won't be here!"

She looked at him wide eyed, then snogged him soundly. "I knew I kept you around for something!"

"You mean for more than just my stunning good looks?" he said with a smile.

"Prat, help me spread the word!" she yelled.

* * *

Filius stepped over the rubble at the end of the tight corridor, and flicked the tip of his wand causing a ball of light to float into the room beyond.

"Oh my!" he said, waving his wand at the rubble, shoving it magically to the side to allow him entry.

"What could have caused this?" he asked the air around him as he stepped into the ward control room.

"The control scheme had been completely disrupted…" he said quietly with a sigh. "It will take some time to put this to rights… No wonder Minerva and the elves are unconscious, the backlash would have been quite substantial… I do hope that it hasn't done anything permanent."

Knowing that the repairs that were required were beyond what he could do alone, he returned to the stairway and made his way upwards.

"Ms. Lovegood?" he said as he arrived,

"Is everything okay sir?" she asked, seeing his face lost in thought.

"No, no I am afraid it is not," he said with a small shrug. "I do believe that no matter what, the school term is over for the year after tonight… Let us be off Ms. Lovegood, I have much to discuss with others of the staff."


	39. Chapter 39

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 39**

Harry emerged from the inky darkness, keeping low while running along a row of tombstones, as the Decoy Detonator fired for the second time. He only needed to pause for the barest of moments to locate the source of the spells that shot into the night a few feet away.

The dark figure was twisting to the left and right its wand seemingly blasting spells into the night blindly chasing after the reports from the detonator. Taking cover and aiming carefully Harry squeezed the trigger of his pistol twice, and watched the body jerk as each shell impacted,

What surprised him were the two voices that cried out from the figure as it toppled to the ground.

Creeping forward carefully he approached and snapped the mag-light back on as soon as he saw the lump of darkness that was the body.

There in the harsh light lay the form of Peter Pettigrew his arms splayed wide and his eyes staring unseeing towards the nighttime sky, but that sight barely registered in the eyes of the young man.

No, what drew his eye was the small struggling form under the wanted man's arm.

Its skin was white and it was wrapped in black cloth. At first he had almost assumed it was a baby but its deformed shape as well the words and sounds coming from the….. thing made his mind up otherwise.

He watched in horrified fascination as it struggled and twisted under the weight of Peter's lifeless form reaching in vain for….

Realizing suddenly what the object just out of its reach was, a wand, he shook himself from his stupor and stepped forward quickly, kicking the object into the darkness.

The thing looked up at him, its blood red eyes squinting against the harsh light. "Fool! I will see you dead!" it rasped. "Nagini! Kill him!"

* * *

Captain Riley Harker grumbled under his breath as the second Helicopter duplicated the actions of the first one they had attacked and turned into the pursuing missiles. "Damn it, keep a lock on the first bogie! Hold on this is going to be rough!" he yelled over his mike, not just to his RIO (Radar Operator) but to the rest of his flight as well. "We can't let them get to wherever they are headed!"

He squinted and looked away as the fire erupted in a gigantic plume that filled the sky again. 'Christ this is going to be…' He began to think as his chopper started to bounce and shake due to the incoming pressure wave.

"I've got red lights all over the place!" yelled his RIO seconds later. "Engine temperature is rising fast! We can't take much more of this!"

"We don't have a choice!" he yelled back, as he pushed his taxed vehicle harder and prayed that his bird could hold out.

* * *

Luna hummed softly as they made their way towards the front entry stopping just feet from the doors, her head tilting slightly to the side a perplexed look upon her face.

Professor Flitwick drew his wand and began to cast, only to find the petite blond's hand on his stopping him. "No! Stop!" she said.

He looked at her, the question evident on his face. "Ms. Lovegood?"

" _Listen_ Professor." she said, holding up a hand to her ear. "I don't hear any voices! By now the courtyard should be filled with students and parents trying to get back into the castle!"

The small man shook his head. "No my dear, we knew the castle may not be an option. Madam Bones is evacuating everyone to Hogsmead."

"Oh!" the girl said, nodding. "That makes sense…" A concerned look crossed her face as she continued, "But wouldn't an Auror come to check on you as soon as possible?"

That gave the professor pause. 'That could well be true, something further may be wrong, perhaps some extra precautions are warranted,' he thought.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "You may be correct to be cautious," he said, gesturing to a door next to the entry. "We will go upstairs to the windows overlooking the courtyards and have a look shall we?"

* * *

Amelia watched as another group disappeared in the swirl of colors she associated with a portkey, then glanced back up towards the mountains behind Black Lake as another long flash of light appeared from somewhere behind the first peak.

"Merlin!" she said under her breath. "What the hell is that?" she asked no one in particular as a soft rumble washed over the valley in which Hogwarts stood.

"I don't know luv," Sirius answered. "I just hope that was the end of it."

She nodded numbly, then muttered, "If not we may be done for."

* * *

Alex was muttering as she ran, her new goblin friend keeping pace next to her as she reached the edge of the maze and pulled to a stop. "Point me, Harry Bond!" she said, her wand laying flat in her hand.

It spun around once and pointed off to the south west, where she had a clear line of sight to the forbidden forest. "Well unless he left the maze and went into the forest for some reason he's not here…"

"Glenda to Bravo Actual! Strider isn't here! None of the champions are accounted for at the moment!" she said, cupping her ear.

"Bravo Actual, Glenda, Understood," said the voice of M. "An extraction team has been dispatched to the beacon, do what you can to help with the evacuation. Bravo out."

Alex slowly dropped her hand, her other hand wiping away a tear. "He's gone… We need to help with the evacuation," she said quietly… Her voice sounded broken.

She was almost startled by the sound of the goblin's voice from next to her. "Young Harry will not be beaten easily Glenda, take it from one who knows."

She looked at him oddly. "I will never underestimate any man by the name of Bond again. Especially since I know the younger has been trained by the elder," he said with a chuckle.

Her eye widened. "You know Commander Bond and his son?" she asked, somewhat stunned as they started making their way back the way they had come.

He nodded. "For many years… he is a friend," he said, breaking into a quick jog and forcing her to do likewise to keep up.

She ran silently next to him, questions about that fact whizzing through her mind.

* * *

"Flight report!" the commander said, going through his own situation as quickly as he could and shutting off multiple warnings and alarms.

"Locus 3, we're blind! Targeting and radar are down. Visibility is limited at best and we've lost most of our attitude control. We were scorched pretty bad," said the pilot's voice.

He looked up from his own readouts when he didn't hear a call out from his other ship. "Locus 2?" ue said almost hesitantly.

His RIO shuffled around trying to see as the same voice spoke again. "I've got a visual on them… They are going down! They've got a fire on board!"

"Shit!" he said, flipping through the restart sequence on his own systems only for most of them to stay dark. "Three, two is going down! Stay with them! Relay their position and stay on station until you are bingo fuel or rescue is here!"

"Roger that! Sorry Captain!"

"Dave try to get our weapons back online!" he said to his RIO, abandoning propriety now that he was no longer transmitting outside the ship. "It's up to us to stop that last Helo!"

"Cycling the system now! But we'll be lucky if we get anything back! We're cooked too!" said the voice over his headset.

"Just do your best," he said, looking down at the darkness around him that would have been normally the glowing green of his instruments. "Get me anything!"

He frowned as he added more throttle to his ailing engines, forcing it to go faster. 'What in the hell are these people up to?' he thought.

He was gaining on the bogie, of that much he was sure. His concentration was fully on his target, so much so he almost missed it, a large dark blur rising up from the mountain below, something large with wings!

He watched stunned as the thing collided with the helicopter; he was already actively trying to shield his eyes, expecting another large fountain of fire to fill the sky. Only it never came. The helicopter just suddenly started to slow then fall from the sky.

He was wide eyed as it did, as well as somewhat perplexed as to what was happening, as it continued to plummet, finally clipping the peak of one of the mountains as he passed overhead, tumbling down the mountain into the valley, bursting as it impacted and exploding into a fireball.

* * *

Amelia Bones's eyes were drawn skyward again as a loud smashing sound rang across the Hogwarts Valley along with the thunderous engines of a helicopter reaching her ears.

She instinctually turned away as the wreck exploded on the side of the mountain and felt Sirius' body cover hers protectively in the same motion.

"Merlin!" she said softly after the rush of heat and sound passed over them. "Sirius?" she asked as she felt the man's weight start to lift from her.

"Amy? Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes glittering in the light of the fire.

"I'm fine," she said, standing slowly and taking in the scene. Fire seemed to be smeared over the entire back side of the mountain beyond the lake.

Seconds later her earpiece crackled to life. "Bravo Actual, all bogies are down! Repeat! All bogies are down! Continue evacuation."

She acknowledged the transmission then gathered Sirius into a hug. "Is it over?" he asked.

She shook her head, "We need to finish the evacuation… and we still don't know what happened in the castle… and…" She hesitated, she didn't know how to tell him.

"Sirius…" she began, pulling him to her tighter. "The champions are missing…" she said in a whisper,

* * *

Harry moved automatically at the threat, flinging himself to the side and down, rolling with the impact to gather his feet, even as his eyes and ears searched the area around him for the tiniest thing out of place or sound that would give away the attacker.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed as his eyes saw the head of a snake just feet from where he had been standing only seconds before.

Its head was at least as big as a large man's thigh, and was rearing back to strike again.

Without even thinking about it he began pulling the trigger on his pistol as soon as the mag-light was centered on it, even as it prepared to strike at him again. He didn't stop till he heard the hollow sound of the firing pin on an empty chamber.

With well oiled precision he had it reloaded before the creature collapsed on the ground.

"Another fucking snake!" he screamed. "What the hell is it with the damn snakes!"

Shuddering, he looked away from the creature and turned his attention back to the… thing trying to crawl toward where the wand had been kicked.

Light from the high intensity flashlight caused the thing to recoil as he stepped in front of it and snapped the wand with his heel.

"I don't know what, exactly, you are but there will be none of that," he said, drawing his own wand from inside his cloak. " _Incarcerus!"_ he intoned, causing ropes to wrap around the creature.

"How dare you!" the thing screeched. "I am L-"

"You just lay there and don't be any trouble," he said after casting a silence charm as well. "It's been a long night and I don't want to hear it. I don't know how long it will be till someone finds us, so you be a good little… thingy ok?" he said with a crooked smile, as he swung the light around.

When the light landed on the gigantic snake again he shivered. "I guess it would make a nice belt… maybe Felix would like a good pair of boots? He was originally from Texas."


	40. Chapter 40

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 40**

Harry slowly got to his feet when he heard the steady thrum of helicopter blades in the distance, sighing deeply as he did. "Wonder what happened…" he said to no one.

It had been almost an hour since he and the other champions had arrived in the cemetery and close to thirty minutes from the time he had found them again hiding near a large disused mausoleum. "That's our ride," he said, gesturing into the distance as lights flared into existence in the sky.

Both of the older champions looked at him wide eyed. "Don't just sit there," he said. "Get up. Remember don't talk about anything you saw here… I know you have questions but this still isn't the time for them... Do whatever they tell you to and offer no form of resistance, understood?"

The two older confused teens nodded.

He reached into his robes and pulled out a small cylinder, pointed it up into the sky and thumbed a small lever on its side, throwing a bright blue signal flare into the air above them. Following his lead they stood in the open, empty hands raised.

Seconds later the helicopter was hovering above them as a team of ten men fast roped down. Eight of the team took up defensive positions around them while remaining two covered them with their weapons as the helicopter wheeled around in the sky and began a slow circuit surveying the area.

"I seem to have lost my keys," Harry said.

If the man in front of him was surprised he didn't show it, but his rifle shifted slightly away from Harry but able to keep the others covered. "Well I could call you a locksmith," he responded.

"If you have a phone I can call my assistant for help," Harry said with a smirk.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the man's weapon lowered, and his eyes shifted to Harry's companions. Harry shook his head slightly. With a slight nod the man said, "I've got a radio."

"It will do. Harry Bond," he said, holding out his hand to the man.

"Lt. Harris," the man said. "How can we help?"

"Can your medic check them over?" Harry asked stepping to the side.

The Lieutenant nodded, motioned to one of his men and gave him a hand signal.

Once the other champions' attention was focused elsewhere, Harry spoke softly to the Lieutenant again. "You and your men were informed this is a code word operation, correct?"

The man nodded again. "Zeus. No questions. It's above our pay grade."

Harry chuckled. "Alright, report back our location, and have the immediate area closed off… two kilometer perimeter around the cemetery. Then I'll need three body bags, and all of us transported, best speed to London and access to a secure channel in flight."

The man nodded and held his hand to his ear as he spoke; moments later he was handing the young man several folded heavy weight plastic bags.

* * *

Harry looked as his watch as the helicopter finished its rotation and settled on the ground, almost 1:00am. Harry shook his head; it had been a long day and it was only just starting, at least for him.

"Bond! Diggory! Delacour! You're with me!" said a grizzled voice as they stepped off the transport chopper and onto a piece of tarmac that was secluded from the rest of the base.

"Auror Moody!?" asked Diggory in surprise.

"Your Amos's boy?" he asked, stepping out slightly from the darkness. Cedric nodded his head. "Ministry vehicles are this way," he said, pointing towards the hangar entrance.

"But sir the…" Cedric began.

"Not here! Now is not the time!" Moody growled, pointing. "GO!"

Not till they had joined the traffic outside the main gate did anyone say anything further.

"We are taking you all directly to the Ministry and from there you will be joining your families as soon as possible," Moody said, turning slightly in the seat in front of them so he could look at them with his remaining real eye.

"You will be meeting with someone in the next few days about what happened. Ms. Delacour, arrangements have been made for you and your family," he said, looking at her directly with both eyes, unnerving her slightly. "Your father will be brought up to speed as soon as time permits so this holds for you as well. You will not speak to anyone about what happened to you tonight, though with all that has happened I don't think anyone will be asking."

Cedric looked worried. "Sir, did something else happen?" he asked nervously.

"Aye son," he said, anger in his voice. "You lot need to prepare yourselves. The Ministry will be in quite the uproar when we arrive. Hogwarts was attacked last night."

"Attacked?!" asked Fleur and Cedric, neither noticing Harry's lack of surprise.

"Aye, attacked," he agreed sadly, holding up his hand to keep them from voicing their concerns. "You'll have to wait, like everyone else, for answers to any questions… as everything is still under investigation… Did any of you see Mr. Krum at any point after entering the maze?" he asked.

As a group they shook their heads in the negative, but it was Harry that spoke. "There was someone in the maze firing spells at Fleur and I," he said. "When we got to the center Cedric came from a different direction, so it most likely wasn't him."

Cedric nodded in agreement. "I didn't."

Moody frowned. "We'll have the maze searched again, there was a lot of damage done to it when the castle wards dropped, causing the ones on the pitch to fall as well."

"The castle wards fell?" Cedric asked, surprised. "Was… was anyone hurt?"

Moody sighed. "I know that they were evacuating the grounds, but other than that? I have no clue. I expect to join the investigation as soon as I drop you all off. Remember, not a word until after someone from the DMLE speaks with you."

* * *

It was almost ten when James made his way past the canteen and picked up several sandwiches and two drinks, and returned to his office.

He clicked on the light as he entered and a groan came from a large grey lump on his couch. "Up Kiddo, I've got food. Then we need you downstairs, we are almost ready for your story."

Harry swung his feet around to the floor and sat up. "How long do I have?" he asked, scratching his fingers vigorously over his scalp.

"I figure about forty minutes or so, long enough for you to eat and dress," James said.

Harry nodded as he took one of the offered sandwiches. "So how bad?" he asked.

James looked down at his shoes and let out a deep sigh. "Let me put it this way; as of this moment, Hogwarts is closed for the rest of the school term and they will struggle to be open September 1st. There is an Apache helicopter sitting in the middle of the clearing just south of the castle with most of its wiring burnt out and another crashed in the mountains just north of the lake… three Heavy Lift Sky Cranes crashed in the same area that were carrying god knows what that made a fire that was so hot that parts of the mountain look melted. Your headmistress is still unconscious, as are all of the Hogwarts elves… A number of injuries… A few serious... we found Krum by the way… He was found dead in a mass of one of those strangling plants… tanglara… something or other."

Harry shook his head. "Damn."

"We are bringing his body back to MI6 for autopsy…" James said quietly,

Harry stood and made his way towards the door, pulling a garment bag off of the back as he went out. "I'm going to change."

* * *

"You're sure that's him?" Amelia asked, holding up a corner of the white sheet.

"Yeah, that's the rat…" Sirius said looking down at his one time friend. It had taken a couple of days for them to make it here after everything, but now it was official, he was the _last_ of the Marauders. "Harry did this?" he asked.

She nodded. "That is what his report said, I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet."

"I need to buy the kid something nice…" He grumbled under his breath,

"Sirius!" she scolded.

"What?" he said. "I can't be glad the little bastard is dead? After what he has done? Cost me? I spent ten years in HELL because of him! Lily and James are dead because of him! And look what he's done to Harry!"

"Sirius!" she growled, "I can only hope you never say something like that in front of Harry!"

"But Amy, he shouldn't be doing something like..." He gestured towards the body on the slab as well as the remains of the snake on the next table… "This!"

"It's my choice Sirius," said a voice from behind him.

He spun around to see his godson, standing backlit in the doorway of the morgue. "Harry!" he stammered. "H-how are-"

"It's my choice! No one else's!" He stepped forward, followed by his father.

"Harry, it's just…" His shoulders slumped. "I just wish you didn't… know what it felt like to kill someone… Even someone I hated as much as Peter," he said quietly.

Harry looked down at the body. "I understand, Sirius… but the job I'm doing is important, now more than ever."

Amelia decided to try to diffuse the situation somewhat and get the discussion back on track. "He just visually verified Pettigrew's identity. Now it is up to the autopsy."

"So it was just him and Krum?" Harry asked. "No one else died?"

She shook here head. "No there were others, these were the only ones of direct interest to MI13," she said sadly. "One of the pilots passed away due to smoke inhalation, the other is still being treated… they are hopeful that he will recover, but there is a strong chance he will never have full lung capacity again."

She watched as Harry's hand tightened into a fist. "The potion they used is common in gardening, it promotes growth and helps keep the soil fertile, it becomes highly flammable if not used immediately, much more so than Q expected, within three or four days it becomes unstable as well… And the fumes given off are caustic."

"We also had two deaths of guests for the task, one fell from the stands during the evacuation… it wasn't a bad fall but the angle… she was dead within seconds of impact… and one man died of a heart attack. Truthfully we were lucky."

"What about the baby thing at the cemetery?" he asked.

"That…" She took a deep breath. "That was disturbing…" She shuddered. "You were right, that thing was Tom Riddle. The body began breaking down less than six hours after it arrived at the Vault… It took another six before whatever ritual was holding it together completely collapsed; most of that time it spent screaming in pain."

"They found a large cauldron filled with an unknown potion, in the cemetery near his family's graves, along with some notes." Looking at what was left of the snake she said. "They have theories and are doing research, but they think he was trying to get his body back to full strength through the use of another ritual…"

"Pfft…" Harry scoffed. "I could have told you that."

Taking the chance to change the subject, Sirius spoke. "What are your plans now Harry."

He took a deep breath and looked at his father. "First a working vacation, I promised I'd visit Fleur and explain more to her and her father and this will be a good chance to begin feeling out the French Ministry, and through them the ICW. After that… next will be your wedding. Then, Alex and I are going to help an old friend in the States for a few weeks. Then we will be back here or visiting Poppy shortly before school."

Sirius didn't look too happy. "It sounds like you're not going to take any time off for yourself, to have fun." Harry chuckled as they headed into the hallway. "No worries, you can even come visit me in the States if you want," he said, handing them a large envelope. "Consider this a wedding present. First a beautiful tropical honeymoon, then a trip to a different type of playground."

Sirius's face broke into a gigantic grin as he read the final destination. "I always wanted to go there," he said, handing the package to his soon to be wife.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah _this_ is going to end well."


	41. Chapter 41

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

 **READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! As it is the only form of payment any writer here expects!**

 **Chapter 41**

Amelia sighed when she heard the voice yelling her name from outside the briefing room. "Shack you have it from here," she said, passing him a stack of paper. "Get them on their assignments for the shift quick, I'll head him and his toad off and take them to my office."

The large dark skinned man nodded, taking her notes. "I'd wish you luck, but…"

"Don't you dare!" She sighed again. "That would be just asking for _more_ trouble."

She straightened her robes and monocle as she walked toward the door. Opening it and stepping out she only just prevented Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, Dolores Umbridge, his Undersecretary and a number of others from barging in and interrupting the morning shift briefing.

"Something I can help you with Minister?" she said, brushing past him and gesturing for him to join her. "Unfortunately I am quite busy after the events of last night, I am afraid I do not have much time-"

"You will give the Minster all the time he requires!" snapped the woman dressed all in pink. "And he requires _you_ to tell him exactly what you know about the events of last night!"

Amelia opened her office door and gestured for the pair to enter. She glared at the people accompanying the Minister and Undersecretary, causing them to pause as she shut the door and sealed it with a spell as she activated the security seals.

Startled by the squelching sound the pair turned to look at the now fuming head of the DMLE. "Dolores," she said, addressing the woman. "If you ever again speak to me in such a way, especially within my own department, you will be feeling the sting of my wand! Is that understood? "

Dolores huffed, "Who do you think-"

"I am Madam Amelia _Bones_ , Regent of House Bones, and Head of the DMLE!" she said, striding forward and looking down at the shorter woman as she did. "Just who in the hell do you think you are to demand anything of me?"

"Now Amel-" began the Minister.

"No Cornelius, I will not be addressed as such by this… woman! Not now, not ever!" she snapped, stepping back to the door. "Now get out Dolores! Minister Fudge needs to be briefed, and you are not cleared for all of the information he will be receiving," she said as she undid the door and pointed the way out.

"The Minister has cleared me to hear-" began the woman.

Amelia glared at the man in question. "Did he…?" she said under her breath. "Cornelius, you know you can do no such thing, Ministry security in my concern… I hope she has not had access to anything of a sensitive nature."

"I assure you that-" She held up her hand stopping the now sweating man.

"Out, Dolores. We have much to speak about… Why don't you go arrange a press conference… for say three pm?" she said, letting the woman know in no uncertain terms she was not needed for the rest of the meeting.

Amelia watched the woman as she exited. "Oh and the Minister and I will be quite a while, we are not to be disturbed," she said as the door closed with a click.

"Now Cornelius," she said, reactivating the security and walking to her desk. "Do we need to have another talk about why you and your office are not involved with security or security screening?"

The man shook his head. "I apologize," he said, looking down. "You made it perfectly clear how things were to be handled when you brought my attention to the section of the laws dealing with Ministry security. I am to facilitate their discussion and ratification within the governing body… but I have no place in implementation or enforcement. I may have overstepped my bounds a bit… it's just, I need her help… and I need to know what to tell the press!" he said, looking worried.

He dropped heavily in the chair across the desk from her, clasping his hat's brim in both hands. "I had over two dozen owls waiting for me at home this morning … twice that at the office! The press has been hounding my every step… everyone has questions and I don't know what to tell them!"

"At the moment, you tell them the truth... or at least the truth as you know it at the moment," she said, sitting down. "It is under investigation, at the moment any further information would be premature, and a press conference will be held as soon as possible. Such as the one I just had your Undersecretary arrange… though I expect that the information we will be able to provide there will be sparse at best. There is a lot to go through and we are stretched thin."

"That won't satisfy them!" he snapped. "They are relentless! Like vultures!" he said wordily.

"It will have to do," she said, tapping a rune cluster hidden on her desk.

"Yes Amelia?" asked a disembodied voice, causing the Minister to start.

"He's here earlier than expected," she said in reply.

"He's with you now?" it asked.

"Yes, and his schedule has been cleared till 3:00, we'll do the press conference then," she said, holding a finger to her lips in reference to Fudge's unasked question.

"Very well," the voice said. "Give me five minutes to redirect your floo, then come through."

"As you wish Mr. Red," she replied.

"Who was that?" Fudge asked as she disconnected by pressing the rune again.

"I only know him as Mr. Red," she said with a shrug. "He contacted me not long after I became the head of the DMLE, He's an Unspeakable and he wishes to speak with you."

Cornelius Fudge swallowed hard as he crushed the brim of his bowler hat. 'An UNSPEAKABLE?' he thought. 'This is not good…not good at all!'

* * *

Harry had been more than a little surprised when he finished his latest hand to hand combat evaluation only to find a note at the secretary's desk asking him to join his father down in Q section, even more so by the fact that he had been joined along the way by Alex, who had just completed her testing in the pistol range.

"Having fun?" he asked, passing the time as they waited for the elevator to complete its journey to the subbasement.

She snorted. "Compared to what Pat and Moody put us through in the chamber it's been a breeze."

He chuckled. "Don't get cocky, these are just the base level, these instructors have no idea that they are dealing with people being trained like we are, this is just so we can get the credentials then we can come and go on our own."

She sighed. "Yeah I know..." she said as the elevator dinged and the door opened. "It will be nice not to need an escort all of the time."

Harry chuckled as they exited. "What, you don't like your shadow?" he asked, thumbing toward the pair of guards following them into the lift.

"No, not particularly," she groused. "No offence," she said to the pair, who didn't answer.

When the lift stopped and the door opened they were met by a pair of familiar faces. "We'll take it from here," James said, gesturing for the younger pair to step out.

Once the doors were firmly closed Harry hugged his father. "It's good so see you."

James smiled as he hugged him. "It's good to see you too, sorry we've been so busy."

Harry shook his head as he released him. "It's fine… How has it been going?"

James sighed and gestured toward a large pair of double doors. "It has been a rough few days since the attack."

Harry nodded his understanding. "I can understand that," he said. "How much of what was in the Prophet was true? And has Headmistress McGonagall awakened yet?"

Pat chuckled. "The ' _muggle_ _arrowplane_ ' crash was, of course entirely false," she said.

"As for the Headmistress, yes she's awake, but she is still hospitalized, though they expect her to be released by middle of the week," James added.

"And the elves?" Alex asked.

"Up and around, they are already helping put the castle back to rights," James replied as they walked further into Q section. "Once she is up and around reconstruction of the wards will begin; they are being designed now, with the help of ' _Gringotts'._ There will be substantial changes to those around Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express tracks as well before it is over, but that will be done in stages over the next several years."

They turned a corner and continued walking. "Well that is good," Harry said. "Is there any idea what happened to the wards."

"Breaching charges," Pat said, shaking her head. "We think Professor Burbage, or someone posing as her, set the charges."

"The Magical History studies professor?" Alex asked, surprised. "I mean, sure she did teach Muggle Studies but she was pants at it!"

"That's one of the reasons we are considering the possibility it was an impostor," Pat said with a shrug. "If it was an impostor we will need to rethink some of our security procedures, but that seems unlikely as they would have needed to duplicate her magical signature, something that is difficult and time consuming to do."

"Any word on COLD?" Harry asked as they approached the end of the hallway.

James shook his head. "Nothing, we have alerts out for Burbage, and are still looking for more leads but it doesn't look good."

Harry nodded and stood quietly as his father punched a code into a box on the wall.

As the door opened he asked, "What did you want us to come down here for Dad?"

James walked over to the window overlooking a large room with a concrete floor. In the center of the room sat a sleek bronze colored vehicle with a slanted nose and small wing across the back. It had its hood standing open and a shapely set of legs leading up to a tight knee length skirt dangled from underneath.

"Someone wanted to meet you," he said. "And if you and Alex give her your undivided attention, and she okay's it you may just have a more interesting way to get to France than by train."

Harry could hardly tear his eyes away from the sight of the vehicle below, but when he did it was to look up at his smiling father's face.


	42. Chapter 42

**Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!**

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 **Chapter 42**

Amelia picked at a non-existent piece of lint as she delayed the inevitable a little longer.

"You needn't be here," said the voice of one of her two companions.

"Yes I do," she said with a sigh. "It is as much my responsibility as it is either of yours."

She knew the man hidden under the hood agreed with her even if he did not say as much, though their companion nodded as if conceding the fact.

She took a slow deep breath as she reached for the door, leading the small group out of the early afternoon sun and into the darkness of the building.

"Aberforth!" she called out as the door closed behind them and they waited for their eyes to adjust. "Aberforth Dumbledore!"

"I'm closed!" said a grizzled voice from someplace beyond the bar.

"Abe! It's Amelia Bones! I need to speak with you!" she replied.

There was a long pause before she heard something heavy slammed to the floor. "Damn!"

The trio made their way around the small tables to the bar. "Abe? Are you ok?" she asked.

Only a grunt came in answer as the man in question appeared in the doorway, his eyes widening when he saw she was not alone. "What!" he said gruffly.

"I- we," she said, gesturing to her companions, "need to speak with you..." She paused a moment knowing that this would most likely not go well. "It's about your bro-"

He didn't let her finish. "So he's finally done something he couldn't cover up or hide," he said, collecting several glasses from behind the bar and depositing them on the worn surface along with an unopened bottle of firewhisky.

"I knew it would happen eventually," he said, uncapping the bottle and pouring the first drink. "Nick," he said pushing it toward the man. "It's been a while. How's Penny?"

Nicolas Flamel picked up the offered glass and took a sip. "She is well... I'm sorry, I didn't... I would have never-"

"Water under the bridge," Abe said as he poured the next drink and pushed it towards the hooded man. "Finally you lot decided to come out of your tombs and back in the real world have you?"

The hooded figure said nothing as it lifted the glass towards the darkness that obscured the face beyond.

It wasn't until the remaining two drinks had been poured and taken in hand that he spoke again. "You have questions, ask them. I've got work to do."

"You don't sound surprised that we're here about Albus," she stated, looking at the man with a weather eye.

He shook his head slowly after slamming down his drink. "Be more surprised if you were here for some other reason with this lot."

Nicolas finished his drink in a long sip and said, "Many years ago my wife and I lived, for a short time, in Godric's Hollow where Abe and Albus grew up. Before Albus convinced me to mentor him in Alchemy, when Abe was still quite young, still in Hogwarts, Penny had begun to teach Abe in her specialty, Charms. He was quite the prodigy as I recall."

Abe grunted. "I'm still a dab hand," he said, his wand suddenly appearing in his hand. The room sprang into motion as the tables and chairs animated and jumped away and brooms and mops swirled around the room cleaning. "Not that I have much use of that, as my clientele expect a certain type of environment."

Amelia looked at the display in awe, the amount of control he had over multiple charms was astounding! "But how- Most of those charms must be custom! You could make a fortune if-"

Abe cut her off at that point. "And if wishes were fishes... My _brother_ would have never allowed that." He said brother with such distaste that Amelia could scarcely believe it.

"But why would Albus have an issue with you pursuing your dream?" she asked.

"Because that man is the biggest narcissistic Machiavellian ass that I have ever met... well other than his _friend_ Gellert... those two were quite the pair..." he said, taking another drink. "

"Gellert?" asked Nicolas. "I don't remember a Gellert in Godric's Hollow..."

Abe chuckled. "He wasn't from Godric's, he was a _seeker_."

Nicolas groaned. "Don't tell me Albus was hanging around with one of _that_ lot."

Abe chucked again. "Oh yeah, they spent hours debating the existence if the Hallows." His face grew darker. "Enough that he was neglecting the care of our sister Ariana..."

"Ariana..." Nicolas said softly. "She- She was- the one who was attacked by those boys, correct? She was never quite right after was she?"

Abe nodded. "She was, but with family, as long as we were careful of her tantrums, she was fine... I found her living in squalor when I came home for Yule my seventh year..." he said, his voice growing distant then harder. "Come to find out he had left her alone for over a week! She had eaten every morsel in the house and hadn't bathed in days!"

He poured himself another drink and slammed it back. "When he came home I confronted him... I still wish to this day that I had handled it differently... maybe Ariana would have still been alive if I had..." His voice trailed off.

"I saw the report on the attack in your file at the Ministry," Amelia said. "And what your father did to the boys that attacked her, but nothing more about her fate afterwards."

"It was a different time then," he said softly. "She had become afraid of her magic, refused to use it... never even wanted to hold a wand again... so when the fight happened between Gellert, Albus and myself, and she was killed, Albus used what gold we had left to bribe the Aurors to make it simple and let us bury her in piece without any inquiry of how she had ended up in the middle of our 'practice'... I was so distraught... to my shame I just went along."

"This," he said, waving his hand at the building around him, "is my savior as well as my punishment. It is the only thing that he could not touch and sell... my great uncle set it up that way when he bought it... a final refuge for our family, a business that we could rely on if there was nothing else... like now," he said, tipping the bottle to refill his glass.

"Did you know that every holding of the Dumbledore family is gone, the house in the Hollow, even the orchard and bees... everything," he said, sipping the drink. "I didn't even know, till I came home for the summer. It was just all gone. This was all that was left, the next thing I knew Albus was teaching at Hogwarts and my offers of apprenticeship had gone up in smoke. I had no choice other than to run this place and give half my profits to him."

He smirked then. "So I made sure that other than basic needs, there weren't any. He hated that." Shrugging, he continued. "It wasn't until the war that he stopped coming around looking for galleons, think he had found other more lucrative ways to fund his 'studies'."

Nick shook his head. "If we had understood..." His voice trailed off. "Penny is quite upset, she blames herself for not seeing that something was wrong, doing more. We thought you had lost interest..."Albus told us-"

"Most likely the same types of lies he told others, including ruining my reputation further by arranging my disgrace after being ' _found_ ' in a compromising position in the paddock." The man said, shaking his head again. "Like I said, water under the bridge, you had no reason to doubt what he was telling you."

"What I don't understand is why?" asked a monotone voice from under its hood.

Abe snorted. "Why else, he couldn't stand to share the name Dumbledore!" He poured himself another drink and swallowed it down. "At any rate, I take it that he has finally stepped in the wrong pile and hasn't been able to convince everyone the smell is roses."

Amelia nodded. "He has, and the deeper we dig the stranger things seem to become. We're hoping you can help with some of our questions."

The man sighed deeply. "I don't know how much help I can be, family secrets and all..."

"Rather than telling us directly, perhaps you can just point us in the right direction so we can find the skeletons for ourselves," said the hooded man.

Abe looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well if that is the case... you need to start in Godric's Hollow. Did you know Gellert Grindelwald was a seeker? And the cottage the Potters were staying in while their manor was repaired was once owned by our family? You may even meet someone with a _historical_ connection in town still."

The hooded man snorted. "So talk to Bathilda Bagshot then?" he asked.

The man on the other side of the bar just shrugged as he collected the bottle and glasses. "Does old Bagie still live there? Huh, go figure. I thought she died years ago. That's one piece six for the drinks."

* * *

David Granger placed the heavy canvas bag on the small table in front of his niece and started opening it. "Alright I brought you here today to see what you have learned, this is-"

"A Glock 27," Hermione said, plucking it from his hands while cycling the slide after ejecting the empty magazine and placing it on the table. "Chambered for the .40 S&W," she continued as she field stripped it, placing each piece on the table in a simple pattern. "Smaller cousin to the Glock 23. Nine shot clip, plus one in the pipe, and can use the same clips as the 23 if necessary giving it a greater capacity."

Finishing quickly she inspected each piece and reassembled the weapon, handing it to her uncle when she finished. "Harry is adamant that we not use a weapon that we have not personally inspected, just to be sure."

He nodded slowly, that was something he also believed. "What other weapons has he trained you to use?"

"The 23, 27, and MP5," she said as she looked at the next pistol he pulled from the bag, giving it the same treatment. "He said that was standard across the board, and that anything further would be up to us to discuss and decide upon."

He sighed, dreading the answer to the question he was about to ask. "And what do you want?"

To her credit, and his surprise, she paused to think about it once again, worrying on her bottom lip as she did.

A look of determination grew across her face, he could almost see the fire ignite behind her eyes as she reaffirmed her decision and gave it voice.

"I believe in what we are doing, and why. I need the tools to be able to protect those that are important to me, my family and friends. Harry and Alex are on the front lines already and I plan to joint them!"

"I was afraid you'd say that," said Dave. "Let's see what we've got to start with. Load up and step to the line.


End file.
